Team Herald
PANJIM: The organizers of Sunburn Klassique can heave a sigh of relief as the High Court of Bombay at Goa has allowed the Anjuna panchayat to decide on the No Objection Certification (NOC) without complete demolition of the illegally set up temporary structures at the venue.
The organizers had approached the bench seeking relief after the court, in its order on December 20, had directed the panchayat to process the NOC application for the event only if the property, where the three-day festival is scheduled to be held in month-end, is restored to its original condition.
The organizers, during the hearing on its fresh plea, assured the court that structures set up after December 18 had been removed, following which the bench of Justice M S Karnik directed the panchayat to decide the application for construction of the structures at the venue on or before December 24 in accordance with the law.
The HC had also ordered that all the permissions granted to the EDM festival will be effective only after the organizers deposit Rs 2.25 crore to the tourism department. In the present plea seeking relief, the organizers Klassique Events and Artist Management rendered an unconditional apology to the court and assured to deposit the amount before the commencement of the event.
The organizers also conceded to pay Rs 15 lakh with the Communidade of Anjuna on or before December 24. To this, the court stated that the Communidade invest this amount in a fixed deposit initially for a period of three months subject to further orders of this court.
During the previous hearing on December 18, the court had asked the organizers to pay to the Communidade Rs 18, 12, 328 before the event starts (on December 27). “Similarly, 20 per cent of this amount, if requires, has to be paid to the administrator of North Zone,” the bench added.
Last month, the government had granted in-principal approval to Sunburn Klassique, which is scheduled to be held at Vagator from December 27 to 29, 2019. Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar had also said a final approval would be granted only after the organizers pay the government its pending dues of Rs 1 crore.
