The police have refused permission for ‘Sunny Night’, a New Year’s Eve concert featuring actor Sunny Leone, among other artistes, at Manyata Tech Park. The police have cited security concerns as all police personnel would be deployed in various parts of the city to manage New Year’s Eve celebrations.
The organiser of the event, Time Creations, had moved the High Court of Karnataka challenging last week’s denial of permission by the police. The High Court had on Thursday directed the city police to pass an appropriate order by December 25.
The police announced their decision on Monday denying permission for the event. The police have stated that the organisers had received only conditional approval from White Orchid Hotel, the proposed venue. The hotel had agreed to grant permission if the organiser was successful in getting the go-ahead from all the departments concerned.
According to the police, the organiser failed to get permission from the PWD (for erecting stage and building makeshift parking arrangements), Bescom (for drawing electricity), apart from failing to mention specifics of whether there is adequate space at the venue to accommodate the expected number of visitors.
While the organisers expect around 8,000 people, the police has observed that all these people are likely to depend on personal transport as finding public transport on New Year’s Eve could be a hassle. With those many people expected to take part in the event, it would be difficult for the police to man the traffic and the crowd at the venue, considering that about 10,000 police personnel have been deployed to ensure uneventful celebrations across the city on December 31, the order, signed by S. Girish, DCP North East, stated.
Another reason is the safety of the artists, as the police has gathered intelligence about a certain group of people wanting to disrupt the event. The organiser has not provided any clarity on where the artistes would be staying, if they came to the city for the event, the police added.
