SC Stays Telangana HC Order On 90-day Notice Rule For Film Ticket Price Hikes
The single judge bench on January 20 had passed an interim order directing the state to place any decision on hiking the ticket prices 90 days before a film's release date, as mandated by section 7A of the Telangana Cinemas Regulation Act 1955
Hyderabad: The Supreme Court of India on Friday stayed an order of the Telangana High Court which had directed the state government to place in the public domain at least 90 days in advance, any decision to permit a hike in movie ticket prices.
A bench comprising Justice J.K. Maheshwari and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar passed the interim order while issuing notice on a special leave petition filed by film production and distribution company Mythri Movie Makers challenging the High Court’s direction.
Senior advocate S. Niranjan Reddy, appearing for the petitioner company, submitted that the High Court’s directive had the potential to affect the release of films across the state.
The High Court’s order was passed in a writ petition filed by Dachepally Chandra Babu questioning the state government’s decision to permit an increase in ticket prices for the Telugu film Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu. The petitioner contended that the grant of such hikes without prior disclosure violated the right to information of stakeholders, including the audience.
He had sought directions to the state home department to ensure that, in future, any proposal for ticket price enhancement be accompanied by disclosure of the film’s income and expenditure statements, the total production budget, and the source of funds of the producer.
In an interim application, the petitioner had requested the High Court for a direction that any decision permitting ticket price hikes be made public at least 90 days prior to the release of a film so that stakeholders could challenge the decision by invoking the review mechanism under Section 7A of the Telangana Cinemas Regulation Act, 1955.
Accepting the plea, a single judge of the High Court had directed the state authorities to publish such decisions in the public domain 90 days before the release of the movie. Aggrieved by the direction, Mythri Movie Makers approached the Supreme Court, which stayed the operation of the High Court’s order and issued notice in the matter.
