TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Percept, the organizers of Sunburn, have filed a suit against the owner of the property on which the event is held in Candolim challenging the purported “illegal termination” of its agreement by the owner, one Anthony Joseph Nunes, and seeking specific performance of the agreement. The agreement was signed in 2012 and is valid till 2015, according to the plaint filed in the Mapusa Court.
Percept has submitted that it has been organizing an electronic dance music (EDM) festival, Sunburn, each year uninterruptedly and that it has incurred substantial costs and put “strenuous efforts and time” to organize Sunburn for 2013 on the said property. “Plaintiff has also started selling passes/tickets for the event scheduled to be held in December 2013 and till date have sold substantial number of passes/tickets for Sunburn,” the suit, filed earlier this month, argues.
According to Percept, “it has come to their knowledge from reliable sources that the defendant in complete contravention of the terms of the agreement between the parties and for the extraneous consideration is in the process of negotiations and discussions with third parties for making the said property available for some other event for the same period during which exclusive rights have already been granted to the plaintiff in respect to the said property.” It may be recalled that Supersonic and Goa Beach Grind, are the two other mega EDM festivals that have announced their schedule at the same time as Sunburn in Candolim.
The suit claims that “without any lawful justification or reason, the owner is attempting to wriggle out of the contractual obligations and acting contrary to the terms of agreement and is trying to frustrate the plaintiff’s rights and sabotage the Sunburn event.” Percept said that it entered into agreement considering the fact that on prior occasions it has successfully held the event at the said property after obtaining the requisite permissions. “Therefore the acceptability of the said property by the authorities as well as the patrons was tried and tested. If the plaintiff is deprived of its right to hold the event at the said property, it will not be possible in a short span of time to find another venue, which would meet the necessary criteria for grant of licences,” says the plaint filed by one Manoj Patra, authorized representative of Percept.
According to the plaint: “After having held the Sunburn event for two years with a view to have a binding arrangement for longer duration covering three seasons of the event, the agreement dated December 20, 2012 was executed… By the agreement the defendant has unequivocally granted exclusive right to the plaintiff to hold the event at the said property during the period from 1 December to 5 January for each year for the term of three years from 2012 to 2014,” the plaint submits.
Percept has prayed that the court pass an order directing the defendant to specifically perform his obligation under and as per the terms and conditions of the agreement dated December 20, 2012 and issue a written NOC in its favour to organize and hold the events at the said property during the period from December 1, 2013, to January 5, 2014, and from December 1, 2014, to January 5, 2015.
Harinder Singh, promoter of Percept said: “We had a three-year lease deed with the owner of the property on which the event was being held which entitles us to hold the event on the said property for three years. I can confirm the matter is now sub-judice.” Singh added that Percept has made its presentation to the government on its EDM festival and all related issues. He also disclosed that inspections of the venues have been conducted and they are awaiting a response from the tourism ministry’s event permission committee.
The owner of the property could not be contacted despite several efforts.
