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No recovery for seven years and counting
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₹1 crore penalty unpaid — officials still inactive
Mumbai: The Maharashtra Revenue Department has yet to recover the tax dues from the organisers of the 2016 Sunburn Festival held in Pune. To avoid paying this tax, the organisers had filed two Public Interest Litigations (PILs) in the Bombay High Court in 2017. Later, in 2018 and 2019, the organisers themselves withdrew these petitions. After that, the Revenue Department was legally bound to recover the dues, but no action was taken.
The organisers failed to pay a stamp duty amount of ₹42,92,085, due to which a penalty of ₹69,53,121 has been imposed so far. That means the total payable amount has reached approximately ₹1,12,45,206. Despite this, the government has granted permission for this year’s Sunburn Festival to be held in Mumbai. This information was received by ‘Sanatan Prabhat’ representative Shri. Pritam Nachankar through an official letter from the Revenue Department.
Revenue waiver raises questions
For the same event, the Tehsil Office had also imposed a land-use fee of ₹60,55,383. In 2017, the then Revenue Minister had assured the State Assembly that the amount would be recovered. However, in 2019 the organisers applied for a cancellation of the fee at the Sub-Divisional Office, and the dues were waived within just three days. The administration did not even appeal against this decision in the Sessions Court.
Petition withdrawn, yet recovery pending
The organisers had approached the High Court against the tax levied in 2016, but even after they withdrew their petition, the department has not taken any action. With the penalty increasing at 2% per month, the payable amount has risen sharply.
Same story in Goa— Tax evasion of crores!
The Sunburn organisers had also failed to pay ₹6.29 crore in taxes due to the Goa Government for the years 2009, 2014, and 2020. As a result, in September 2025, the High Court ordered the seizure of a bank guarantee worth ₹1.10 crore. Despite this, the Maharashtra Government has approved the Sunburn Festival to be held in Mumbai from 19 to 21 December 2025.
Citizens are now questioning how the event still received approval despite such large-scale financial irregularities and pending dues.
Stamp duty Department talks tough, recovers nothing
According to officials, “The dues will be recovered through compulsory procedures under Section 46 of the Maharashtra Stamp Act.” However, in reality, even after seven years and despite court directives, no concrete action has been taken. If the department has failed to recover the dues for seven years, will it truly recover anything now?
