TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court on Friday did not grant a stay on the conduct of the two Electronic Dance Music (EDM) festivals in a PIL filed against the EDM festivals. The case has been fixed for hearing on January 12.
The PIL, filed by Sunil Kawthankar, had alleged that there would be a loss of Rs 16 crore due to non-compliance with tax procedures and sought directions to the authorities not to allow the two music festivals – Sunburn and Supersonic – which are scheduled to take place from December 27 to 30.
According to Kawthankar, the crux of matter was that tickets were sold without authentication and so the government cannot assess tax which has to be paid 100 per cent in advance, without authentication.
The government on Friday argued that the respondents had deposited Rs 25 lakh and they would formulate a method to determine the tax amount.
In a surprising twist, Kawthankar’s lawyer allegedly withdrew from the case at the last minute citing personal reasons.
The PIL had alleged that the organizers were selling tickets without paying the commercial taxes and via the internet and there has been no action by the authorities against them. It alleged “that such issuance of the tickets apart from being unauthorized is also presumptuous”. It also stated that the organizers presumed that all the licenses and permissions would be issued for the events.
The petition also stated that the noise created by the EDMs would affect the health, well being and peace of the area, affecting a large number of people. It further alleged that the authorities have not taken any effective steps to ensure that the
ambient noise levels are maintained.
