Book fair at Palace Grounds: Order stayed

The High Court on Thursday ordered that notices be issued to the Bangalore Booksellers’ and Publishers’ Association (BBPA) and others on an appeal filed by the State government against permitting the Bangalore Book Festival (BBF) at the Palace Grounds for seven days.

Hearing the government’s appeal, a division bench of Chief Justice D H Waghela and Justice R B Budihal ordered the issuance of notice. In February this year, Justice A S Bopanna had directed the government to permit BBF at the venue for seven days.

The BBPA had moved the High Court against the government’s denial of permission to conduct the book fair from May 4 to 10, 2014, at the Palace Grounds. The association argued that the government had been discriminating while giving permission for events at the venue. Some events were permitted for more than three days, it claimed.

The government challenged this order and argued that guidelines framed in 2012 did not permit any event at the venue for more than three days.