The Jaipur Literature Festival has run into a last-minute controversy because of a PIL seeking change in the venue of the event and a dispute in the family that owned the Diggi Palace where the event is held traditionally . The HC will give its verdict on the PIL on Wednesday, a day before the fest is scheduled to begin.
Petitioner Sanjeev Gupta has cited security concerns and inconvenience to the general public as reasons for shifting the venue from Diggi Palace.
“Jaipur has been a target of terrorist organisations in the past. The event is attended by VIPs and terror attacks cannot be ruled out,” the PIL said. Further, it said that the Diggi Palace could hardly accommodate 2,000 people whereas, it gets a daily footfall of around 35,000 people during the five-day festival. Besides, the hotel’s parking space can’t accommodate more than 50 vehicles at a time and this leads to traffic congestion in the city as visitors park their cars nearby.
Mr Gupta also pointed out that traffic jams could endanger life of patients as Diggi Palace is adjacent to Rajasthan’s biggest hospital, SMS Hospital.
The PIL said that in the event of a fire transporting fire tenders and other equipment might not be possible due to the heavy crowd at the hotel. The petitioner said despite all this, the authorities had given permission to hold the event at Diggi Palace.
Meanwhile, speculations are rife that DCP (south) Ravi Dutt Gaur was transferred after he denied permission to hold the event at its usual venue. The petitioner attached with the PIL an unsigned letter reportedly issued by Mr Gaur to JLF organisers in which he had denied permission to hold the event at Diggi Palace. Mr A.K. Jain, the petitioner’s advocate, said though permission was denied on January 1, it was given on January 4 following “some kind of pressure.”
However, Mr Ram Pratap Diggi, the owner of Diggi Palace, claimed that adequate arrangements have been made in accordance with the rising footfall. “Even if 35,000 people come, they don’t gather in one place, as programmes are held at 7-8 spots. We make sure each has multiple exits and fire marshals,” he said.
