The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday declined to vacate its stay on a rule capping the price of movie tickets at Rs 200 while also ordering accounts of the ticket sales across payment methods to be maintained till the matter is adjudicated.
The matter was heard by a division bench consisting of Justices Suraj Govindaraj and Rajesh Rai K.
The cap came as part of the amendment to the Karnataka Cinema (Control) Rules 2014 and does not affect multi-screen premium cinemas with fewer than 75 seats. This policy had previously been introduced in the state in 2017 but was withdrawn in the face of a challenge in the high court.
The petition, brought forth by the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, the Kannada Film Producers Association, and others, sought the setting aside of Justice Ravi Hosamani’s September 23 order that stayed the Rs 200 cap.
The division bench hearing the matter directed the various multiplexes within the state to maintain accounts of all ticket sales made by both electronic means and cash. It also directed the various multiplexes to provide monthly details of this to the relevant licensing authority. The order will also have to be clearly displayed before movie screenings.
On September 23, Justice Ravi Hosamani noted in his interim order that prima facie there did not seem to be a specific regulation that would enable the Government to set the ticket price. The court had stated that if the petition challenging the Rs 200 cap was ultimately unsuccessful, the excess amounts could be returned to those who had booked the tickets.
The judge also noted that the balance of convenience for the interim stay was with the filmmakers who had challenged the price cap. This was because if their challenge to the price cap was successful but no stay was granted, then they would have lost earnings in the interim. But if a stay was granted and the price cap was upheld, then orders could be passed regarding the excess money collected.
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The order clarified, “Even applying balance of convenience test, if Amendment is not stayed, and petitioners ultimately succeed in writ petition, petitioners would stand to lose earning permanently, while if Amendment is stayed and petitioners ultimately loose, appropriate orders could be passed about money collected by petitioners above, cap fixed as same would be accounted for in course of business.”
The proceedings come days before the release of Kantara: Chapter 1, a prequel to the highly successful Kantara, starring Rishab Shetty. The producers of Kantara, Hombale Films, were among the petitioners who opposed the price cap before Justice Hosamani.