HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court has taken suo motu cognisance and initiated contempt proceedings against Special Chief Secretary (Home) CV Anand for permitting a hike in movie ticket prices for the recently released Tollywood film Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu, allegedly in violation of a subsisting court order.
Justice NV Shravan Kumar expressed serious displeasure over the decision, noting that it ran contrary to the court’s January 9 order restraining the state from allowing any ticket price hike. The restraint was issued while hearing a separate petition related to the Prabhas-starrer The Raja Saab.
The court observed that despite clear directions to strictly adhere to the Telangana government’s 2021 cinema ticket pricing regulations, authorities continued to permit enhanced rates, repeatedly undermining judicial orders.
During the hearing of a petition filed by advocate Dachepally Chandra Babu, it emerged that the special chief secretary had issued a memo on January 8 approving a ticket hike for a film starring Chiranjeevi and Nayantara. However, the memo was made public only on January 10, a day after the court had categorically barred any increase.
The matter escalated when the assistant government pleader (Home) failed to explain why the January 8 memo was not disclosed during the January 9 hearing. The court termed the omission a serious lapse.
The high court impleaded the managing director of the Telangana Film Development Corporation as a respondent and directed the issuance of notices. It also ordered the Registry to issue formal contempt notices to the special chief secretary (Home).
In a prospective directive to ensure transparency, Justice Shravan Kumar ruled that any future proposal to hike ticket prices must be placed in the public domain at least 90 days before a film’s release, enabling affected parties to seek remedies under Section 7A of the Telangana Cinemas Regulation Act. The matter has been posted for further hearing.