Team Herald
PANJIM: In a bizarre excuse, Tourism Minister Manohar Azgaonkar has claimed the Electronic Dance Music (EDM) festival Sunburn Klassique was allowed due to media pressure. His statement comes at the time when the High Court of Bombay at Goa disposed of a petition that sought recovery from the organizers of Sunburn.
“We had to give permission because of you (media). You had been saying (reporting) that tourists are less so we granted permission to Sunburn Klassique,” he said in a witty tone when asked about granting of permission to this festival, which was held at Vagator last weekend.
In the same breath, he claimed that permission was granted only after the organizer made an advance payment to the government. The government has earned around Rs 56 lakh from Sunburn Klassique through service tax, police bandobast charges, etc. The only pending payment is the entertainment tax, which Tourism Director Sanjiv Gadkar explained is evaluated based on the attendees at the event. “Entertainment tax is imposed after an event as it is always based on the total number of persons attending the event. We will be evaluating the amount once the organizer submits details of the visitors to us, and accordingly charge them the tax,” he said speaking to Herald, after the press conference.
Sunburn had made a comeback this year as ‘Sunburn Klassique’ after a gap of three years. The High Court on Tuesday had asked the government to decide within six months Percept Live’s challenge on the fees demanded by Goa government. The bench while disposing of the petition had also observed that government should set a deadline for EDM organizers to clear dues of previous event.
Commenting on the dues to be paid by Percept Live, the organizer of Sunburn EDM, Azgaonakr announced that the festival will not be permitted in Goa till they clear their pending dues.
“We will not allow Sunburn until the dues are recovered. They have to clear money first. I will be strict on this. We don’t want Sunburn by making a loss to the government. I am in favour of EDM in Goa but not until the dues are cleared,” he commented.
