A last-ditch lawsuit threatening the Chutney Soca Monarch finals was thrown out yesterday, clearing the way for the event at Skinner Park, San Fernando, tonight. In a brief oral ruling yesterday, Justice Andre Des Vignes rejected an injunction application from the National Chutney Foundation of T&T (NCFTT) against the event’s promoter George Singh, of Southex Event Management Limited.
The hearing took place around 8 am at the Hall of Justice, Port-of-Spain, to allow the parties time to file an appeal against the ruling. However, in the end, the group opted not to appeal. The NCFTT, through its president Vijay Ramlal-Rai, was claiming that Singh copied its annual competition, which coincides with Indian Arrival Day celebrations, when he (Singh) incorporated traditional chutney into his competition.
The NCFTT was relying on the Protection from Unfair Competition Act, as it contended that Singh’s show would financially cripple its own as a traditional chutney competition was unique to its organisation. In defending against the allegation, Singh’s lawyer Dharmendra Punwasee said the NCFTT had no ownership rights over traditional chutney music.
Although, he admitted, the two promoters drew on the same customer base, the two events were not in competition because they were held over three months apart. As he addressed the NCFTT and its members present in court yesterday, Des Vignes said the legislation which incorporated that organisation did not make it the exclusive promoter of traditional chutney but rather encouraged it to work with other organisations to promote the artform.
Speaking after the decision, Faris Al-Rawi, who also represented Singh, said he had been confident his client would prevail in the “frivolous” lawsuit. “We take the position that it was ludicrous to have come to court to seek to have a monopoly on the traditional chutney artform,” Al-Rawi said.
Singh hailed this decision as “a victory for traditional music and the Indo-Trinidadian culture of T&T” as he stated that his event was the “largest and most important in the Indo-Caribbean calendar.” NCFTT was represented by Angela Renaud-Lewis and Temi Ade-John.