A casual visit to a couple of marriage halls, commercial establishments and concert venue organisers at Palace Grounds, a day after the State government banned all commercial activities at Palace Grounds, revealed that there are indeed several discrepancies in the way businesses are run.
The government’s observations on how rules, even the Supreme Court guidelines, are being flouted and that it is being short-changed of revenue, appears to be pertinent. Take for instance what was revealed in a routine inquiry at one of the marriage halls. The manager of a prominent one here said a booking can cost anywhere between Rs. 75,000 to Rs. 50 lakh, but said the bill would be issued only for around Rs. 75,000, as anything above that would “incur exorbitant taxes”.
Fudging figures
This ‘black and white’ offer was made at many other establishments, when The Hindu ’s reporters contacted them on the pretext of making bookings. At a newer establishment, the proprietor blatantly said that bills can only be provided for Rs.1 lakh, as the remaining amount comes under the head of “decorations”.
With the government clampdown, these establishments will lose big money from ticketed events though they can continue to operate as weddings are permitted. However, their operations are likely to come under scanner given the government has ordered a deeper investigation into activities on Palace Grounds.
There are over 25 marriage halls spread across Palace Grounds. Most of the proprietors insisted they had not built permanent structures and hence were not to blame. But they had no answer when told that the Supreme Court guidelines pegged temporary leases or rents for a maximum of three days.
Other ‘permanent’ entities
While in an interim order the Supreme Court had said no permanent structures could come up on this disputed land, amusement parks, party halls and other smaller exhibition apparatus have been around here for many years.
When asked about the legality of Fun World, the amusement park located on the Jayamahal Road side of the ground, its manager Subhash Chandra said that there are no grounds for shutting it down. It was business was as usual there on Friday.
“We have been allowed to renew government permission annually, and have been doing so since 1995.” He pointed out that all the structures within the amusement park have temporary roofing, thus claims of them having a permanent infrastructure is false.
“Shutting it down will not only be a tax loss to the government, but also over 350 people will lose jobs.”
When contacted, Deputy Commissioner, Bangalore Urban, M.K. Ayyappa, said the DPAR (Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms) had ordered the DC and the BBMP to check the number of commercial ventures and permanent structures in the area. Some years ago a similar survey turned up over 50 such structures. Mr. Ayyappa said a detailed investigation will be done and a report submitted as per government’s wishes.
Raj Kumar Rai, a regular at Fun World, said he is disappointed that politicians are planning to shut down a popular hangout. “This is the only amusement park in the city; the other one is located very far. I hope this decision is reconsidered.”
In a contrasting view, Kamlesh Prasad, who had once organised an event at one of the halls here, said: “These wedding halls take huge sums from us and give receipts only for a fourth of the amount in order to evade taxes. These defaulters deserve this penalty. Apart from that, the kind of traffic mess these events create is nothing less than torture for us as commuters.”
