Judge: Exodus can play Savannah Grass

THE way is clear for Exodus steelband to drop SuperBlue's Rag Storm and roll into the 2019 Panorama finals with Kees Dieffenthaller's Savannah Grass. The decision was made at around 9 pm today when High Court judge Justice Kevin Ramcharan ruled in favour of the band which filed an injunction against Pan Trinbago.

The injunction was filed at about 12.30 pm and attorneys for both parties were notified that Ramcharan would sit at 5 pm to hear legal arguments. At around 6.30 pm, Ramcharan stood the matter down until 7.30 pm to deliver his ruling. This was eventually pushed back to 8pm.

Exodus' attorney Farai Hove Masaisai, who was led by Senior Counsel Elton Prescott, said after the ruling, the judge based his decision on the argument of fairness, saying if Pan Trinbago wanted to change its rules, its membership should have been consulted.

The band's manager Ainsworth Mohammed told reporters while he was happy with the outcome, he felt it was a sad day for pan.

"We don't gloat in victories like this. We would like to see the steelband movement go forward in strength, and that's the most important thing for us. We always knew it was our right to change the song since the rules did not preclude it, and there was precedence for it."

Mohammed said while the band continued to rehearse Savannah Grass, only about three minutes of the required seven-minute arrangement has been completed, but he is confident that by next Saturday all will be well.

Exodus had served a pre-action protocol letter on Pan Trinbago on Thursday asking for an all-parties conference to take place between 12 pm on Thursday and 12 pm today. But Pan Trinbago failed to meet the deadline.