Allow movie-goers to carry food inside theatres, says PIL : HC seeks Delhi govt’s stand

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the AAP government's stance on a public interest litigation petition seeking framing of guidelines allowing movie-goers to carry their own eatables and beverages inside theatres.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar issued notice to the Delhi government, police and the Cinema Owners and Exhibitors Association of India, seeking their reply to the plea, which said that theatres in the city charge exorbitant rates for food and drink they serve to customers. 

The plea was moved by a lawyer, Ekta Singh, who alleged that she was not permitted to carry her own eatables and water bottle inside a movie theatre at Jangpura here. 

She has alleged that the food and drink that was available inside the theatre were over-priced.  In her petition, filed through advocate Kamlesh Kumar Mishra, she has claimed that it was "highly unjustified" on the part of the cinema hall owners to "force" movie-goers into buying food and drink being sold inside theatres at exorbitant prices to "mint money". 

The plea also alleged that eatables sold inside theatres were junk food and the activity was going on unchecked by the authorities. 

It further said that even the Jammu and Kashmir High Court had in July 2018 directed multiplexes and cinema halls in the state not to prohibit movie-goers from carrying his/her own food articles and water inside the theatre. 

Even the Bombay High Court has reportedly on several occasions said that movie-goers cannot be prohibited from carrying eatables into cinema halls when food and drink inside theatres was being sold at exorbitant rates, the petition said.