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In January this year, the Supreme Court, in a batch of petitions filed by movie theatre owners, held that a theatre is a private property of the theatre owners and they are well within their rights to impose restrictions pertaining to outside food and beverages
In a Public Interest Litigation filed in 2018 before the Allahabad High Court, the State Government of Uttar Pradesh has recently filed a counter-affidavit supporting the restriction imposed by the Management of the Cinema Hall Owners on entry of outside food and beverages into cinema halls.
Before the bench of Justices Manoj Kumar Gupta and Jyotsna Sharma, the matter was mentioned on Wednesday this week by the counsel representing the Management of the Cinema Hall Owners.
Advocate Ritwick Rai submitted that the controversy in the instant case was covered by the judgment of the Supreme Court in K.C. Cinema vs. State of Jammu & Kashmir and Others, (2023).
K.C. Cinema case, the Supreme Court considered the reasonableness of the restriction imposed by the Management of Movie Theaters in not permitting persons entering a movie theater to carry their own food and beverages. While tabling its verdict, the Top Court observed that restricting entry of food and beverages into cinema halls is not an unreasonable restriction.
Taking into account the State Government's stand on the issue and the submissions made by the counsel for the Management of the Cinema Hall Owners along with the fact that counsel for the petitioner was not present before the court on Wednesday, the division bench, "in the interest of justice", refrained from passing any adverse order.
Accordingly, it posted the matter next on September 12, 2023.
In K.C. Cinema vs. State of Jammu & Kashmir and Others, while dealing with a batch of petitions filed by movie theatre owners challenging the high court's order allowing customers to bring their own food inside the movie theatres, a bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha had said that a theatre is a private property of the theatre owners and they are well within their rights to impose such restrictions.
The Top Court had opined that "it needs no emphasis that rule-making power of the State has to be in consonance with the fundamental right of cinema hall owner to carry a business trade etc."
Case Title: Mamta Singh v. State Of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Home And Others
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