Heartburn for anti-Sunburn

Mumbai: Protests against the Sunburn festival seem to be growing by the day, with villagers at Kesanand, where the festival will take place, expressing their disappointment over the event being held there. But the Bombay high court on Wednesday refused to stay the festival, as requested by a petitioner. The HC refused to grant the request after the state government lawyer informed it during the hearing of the petition that the district collector had given all necessary permissions for the concert to be held.

Known as a pioneering electronic dance music festival in the country, Sunburn will take place from December 28 to 31 at Kesanand, which is near Wagholi on the Pune-Ahmadnagar road.

A vacation bench headed by Justice G.S. Kulkarni was hearing a writ petition filed by Duttatrey Pasalkar, who alleged that the organisers had encroached upon his land, cut trees and excavated land for road widening without taking the district collector’s permission. He also alleged that the organisers hadn’t taken permission from him and the forest department for road widening.

The petitioner further alleged that while excavating land, the organisers were bringing out minerals and taking them away from the spot. He further alleged that there is only one road to reach the site, which could lead to untoward incidents.

On Tuesday, while hearing the matter, assistant general pleader (AGP) Pravin Sawant had told the court that as per his instruction, on December 22, Pune’s deputy collector had asked the organisers to obtain 12 requisite permissions. He further said that the forest conservator had filed a complaint against the organisers for digging in a hilly area in order to construct a road. After that, the court had asked the organisers to respond to the petition and kept the matter for hearing on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, AGP Sawant told the court that he had received instructions from the Pune collector’s office that all the requisite permissions had been granted to the organisers. Justice Kulkarni then asked whether the organisers had obtained permission to sell liquor, at which point senior counsel Vyankatesh Dhond, appearing for the organisers, made a statement that no liquor would be served at the festival until permission was acquired.

The court observed that as per the panchanama that the forest officer had prepared after receiving the petitioner’s complaint, the organisers hadn’t cut any trees nor conducted any excavation work done for road widening. But Sanjiv Punalikar from Sanatan Sanstha, which is among a group of outfits opposing the festival on grounds that it allegedly promotes obscenity and consumption of drugs and alcohol, told the Asian Age, “We will protest at the spot and there could be a law and order problem that arises.”

Meanwhile, Saurabh Joshi, a manager in a multinational, said, “What is the point in filing petitions in court or opposing one festival. Why did these organisations not protest when NH7, a music festival similar to Sunburn, was held just a month ago? If they are so concerned about saving culture and religion, then they should try to close down discotheques and pubs across the city. They are simply trying to garner publicity.”