Sarkar: Cancel licence of theatres selling tickets at exorbitant rates

If any cinema theatre was found violating and selling the movie ticket at an exorbitant price, the district administration could cancel the license of the theatre concerned, a Division Bench of Justices T Raja and Krishnan Ramasamy said after a petition filed by Mahendrapandi of Usilampatti came up for hearing.

Mahendrapandi in his petition claimed that online booking of tickets for the Vijay’s latest flick, Sarkar, which is to be premiered in more than five cinema theatres in Madurai on Deepavali day, has opened and the ticket price ranged from Rs 500 to a maximum amount of Rs 1,000. Hence, the bench should take necessary action to curb exorbitant ticket price for the movie. Meanwhile, the counsels for the state government informed that a team had been formed to monitor and curb overpricing of the ticket for the movie. Further, a helpline number has also been introduced to lodge complaints by affected parties or the public regarding such irregularity for subsequent action under the provisions of law.

However, the petitioner argued that there was no proper response even if complaints were preferred through the helpline. Subsequently, both the petitioner and the government counsels dialled the numbers through their cell phones.

As the response from the helpline was not satisfactory, the bench directed the district administration to monitor the ticket rates and take stringent action against offenders by cancelling theatre license.