Rediff on the NeT: Supreme Court can still veto Yanni concert

Supreme Court can still veto Yanni concert

Syed Firdaus Ashraf in New Delhi

Yanni The Supreme Court is yet to pass an order on the petition challenging the proposed concert, by the internationally renowned musician, Yanni, proposed to be held at the Taj Mahal in Agra on March 20, 21 and 22.

Chief Justice A M Ahmadi has, however, given the petitioners oral permission to bring up the matter again before the apex court -- with the proviso that this can be done only after one or all the petitioners have visited the site.

The main petitioners, noted historian Romila Thapar and social activist Patwant Singh, had held in their petition that the concert would affect the Taj Mahal adversely due to the effects of the high-voltage sound systems proposed to be employed, and that the concert should therefore be banned.

The court, however, pointed out that neither petitioner had visited the site, but had filed the petition merely on the basis of a newspaper report.

"In law," ruled Chief Justice Ahmadi, "a petition must be on the basis of personal knowledge. None of the petitioners has visited the site. We cannot go only be newspaper reports, which fear damage to the monument by the Yanni concert. If the reporter who filed the news report had filed the affidavit in the court, we would have considered the matter."

So is the eagerly awaited concert on? Or is it off? For answer to that, we have a stage wait of a further seven days -- the time given to the petitioners to first visit the site, then file an affidavit in court based on their personal findings.

Counsel for the petitioners Joy Basu told Rediff On the NeT that the case was by no means over. "The court has not dismissed our case. If my client goes to Agra before the concert and files an affidavit, the case can come up for hearing again. The court can be convinced even one day before the concert, since it is a question of preserving a national heritage."

The organisers had earlier informed the court that they were using special acoustics to minimise the effects of sound waves on the historic monument.

Romila Thapar, who was present in court for Chief Justice Ahmadi's ruling, refused to say whether or not she would visit Agra before March 20 and file the affidavit.

"One of us will surely go to Agra. We are trying to decide which among us will go to the venue and file the fresh affidavit, which we hope to do by March 17," Patwant Singh, who is also an internationally wellknown designer, told Rediff On The NeT.

The petition is based on the principle of resonance, which holds that sound waves of high amplitude can impact negatively on ancient monuments. It was this principle that the director general of the Archaeological Survey of India had cited when urging the ministry of civil aviation to stop aeroplanes from overflying the temples of Khajuraho. "The same principle applies in the case of the Yanni concert," says Singh.

The other petitioners are columnists Kuldip Nayar and Nikhil Chakravarthy, Dr Rajni Kothari, the celebrated thinker, and retired bureaucrat John Lall.

Interestingly, the Yanni concert is expected to generate revenue to the tune of Rs one billion -- the entire sum to go to the Uttar Pradesh government's Agra Heritage Fund, set up to improve the Taj and other historic monuments in the city of Agra.

"It is not a question of generating a lot of money," argues Kuldip Nayar. "And in any event, we have been informed that the concert will generate at least Rs 20 billion, so the one billion being given to the UP government is peanuts anyway. The money is not the issue, the possible damage to a national monument is what causes us concern."

Interestingly, the concern voiced by Nayar, Thapar and company does not seem to be shared by the ASI. Yanni Management Inc had earlier informed the ASI about the arrangements for the show. If Yanni Management Inc ensures that there will be no sound and lightning near the Taj, the monument will not be affected, an ASI official ruled subsequently. The Supreme Court, meanwhile, directed that no motorised vehicle will be permitted within 500 metres of the monument.

Nayar, however, is in no mood for such "quibbling". "The whole concept of holding the Yanni show is wrong. If tomorrow Lata Mangeshkar and Ghulam Ali say they want to hold the same kind of show, can you object to it? No. So the process will go on, and inevitably affect the Taj. In any event, instead of Western music in the background of the Taj, I feel that singing ghazals would be more appropriate."

Meanwhile, the state government is going full ahead with plans to make the concert, sponsored by soft-drinks giant Pepsi, a success. An estimated 400 workers are labouring round the clock to create a 100 feet by 80 feet stage on the river running behind the Taj, even as they ready the seating for the 7,214 audience expected for the live concerts.

Yanni Chryssomallis -- known in the music world by his first name alone -- is slated to play eight new compositions created as a tribute to the Taj.

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