PANAJI
The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Thursday disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed against the conduct of Sunburn Festival 2024, ruling the petition as infructuous since the event has already concluded peacefully at Dhargalim village in December last year.
The PIL had sought cancellation of the permission granted to the organisers of the Sunburn Festival, or relocation of the event to another location, while raising concerns over alleged environmental destruction, tax defaults, pending arrears to the local Comunidade and unreported crimes associated with the large gatherings at the annual music festival.
The petitioners had also urged the constitution of a committee to manage the festival and maintain peace in the area.
However, during the hearing, the Additional Government Advocate Deep Shirodkar, representing the State authorities, and Advocate Nikhil Pai, representing the organisers, submitted that the festival was held and concluded without incident, rendering the petition infructuous.
“...The Petition has been rendered infructuous in the wake of the fact that the Sunburn Festival was organised in village Dhargalim and the event was completed peacefully. In the wake of the fact that the event is already concluded, the respective Counsel request for disposal of the Petition as infructuous,” the respondents stated.
To this, the Division Bench of Justice Bharati Dangre and Justice Nivedita Mehta stated, “Accepting the aforesaid contention and looking at the reliefs in the Petition, we are of the view that since the Sunburn Festival is now over and the relief sought was only to prevent its conduct and certain steps to be taken in its organisation, we dispose of the PIL Writ Petition as being infructuous. Pending Miscellaneous Civil Application also stands disposed of.”
