Team Herald
PANJIM: Stating that the Sunburn organisers are taking the Goa government for granted, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) through its State president Adv Amit Palekar has filed a complaint with the Panjim Police Station against the organisers of Sunburn electronic dance music (EDM) festival for illegal ticket sales and demanded action by the State government.
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“The Sunburn organisers, as usual are taking the government for granted, for sure, and the latter (the govt) is letting the former (Sunburn) take them for granted. The Government is allowing the organisers a free way for whatever obvious reasons,” Adv Palekar told O Heraldo.
In his complaint, Adv Palekar stated that the Sunburn organisers have been selling tickets for the event without obtaining the necessary permissions from the government. He has called for the government to file an FIR and conduct a thorough investigation into this matter.
Adv Palekar said in his complaint, “The kind of loot and conspiracy that is being carried out by BookMyShow and Sunburn organisers is alarming. The State government will be held responsible as they appear to be co-conspirators with the promoters of Sunburn. The government should immediately intervene, instruct the police to investigate, file an FIR, and stop the sale of tickets. If this is not done, it will be clear that the government is also involved in this.”
He said, “The Tourism Minister himself stated that government has not given permission to Sunburn, and that anyone who has been sold a ticket may file a police complaint.”
Adv Palekar said, “I wanted to expose the fraudulent activities of the Sunburn organisers, which is why I purchased a ticket myself to show that they have fraudulently taken Rs 2,230.10 from me. The CM and Tourism Minister had asked for a Goan to file a complaint, and I have done it. Now, the government should act on this as they announced.”
Adv Palekar has also demanded that the police investigate where the revenue generated from ticket sales is being directed and identify the company receiving these funds.
Later, Adv Palekar asserted that despite the government’s statement during the recent monsoon session of the Goa Legislative Assembly that no permission had been granted to the Sunburn organisers, tickets were being sold through BookMyShow, and many people had already purchased them.
He emphasised that it was now the responsibility of Chief Minister and Tourism Minister to take immediate action against the organisers and file an FIR, as they had not obtained the appropriate permissions from the State authorities concerned.
The press release further mentioned, “The government has become like a father-in-law, with the promoters of Sunburn festival as their favourite son-in-law. This father-in-law waits until the last minute to collect a big gift and eventually grants permission. This has become a ritual every year. Sunburn has not put Goa on the cultural map but on the map of loud noise, drug abuse, overdose, pollution and loss of business.”
