HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court has directed the state government to place on record detailed information regarding the alleged collection of Rs 42 crore through increased ticket prices for the film Mana Shankar Varaprasad Garu, starring actor Chiranjeevi. The court also instructed GST authorities to submit relevant data before it. The matter has been adjourned to February 3.
The directions were issued by Justice NV Shravan Kumar while hearing a writ petition filed by advocate Paduri Srinivasa Reddy. The petitioner challenged a memo issued on January 8 by the Home department’s Principal Secretary permitting special shows and enhanced ticket prices for the film.
According to the petitioner, the memo was issued in violation of earlier court orders and was therefore invalid. It was contended that the permission enabled ticket prices to be increased to Rs 600 each (including GST) for special shows, with additional hikes for a week — Rs 50 in single-screen theatres and Rs 100 in multiplexes (including GST). The petitioner alleged that these measures resulted in an illegal collection of Rs 42 crore.
Seeking relief, the petitioner urged the court to order the recovery of the alleged illegal earnings and their deposit into the government treasury. He further requested directions to require payments to the Telangana High Court Legal Services Authority and sought orders against several stakeholders, including Shine Screen India LLP, Gold Box Entertainments, director Anil Ravipudi, distributor Dil Raju, BookMyShow, and district-level intermediaries, for allegedly benefiting from the ticket price hikes.
After hearing the submissions, Justice Shravan Kumar issued notices to the respondents, calling upon them to file their responses and supporting data, including GST-related figures. The court then adjourned the hearing to February 3 for further consideration.