Supreme Court to hear all appeals on allowing outside food in cinema halls

“We were the first people to file this case in the Bombay High Court. Thereafter, the case started making progress. Immediately people across the country called us and said they wanted to file cases in their own respective High Courts ... we had, in fact, cautioned the other people that they do not file multiple proceedings in separate HCs ... because people started filing parallel cases across the HCs, the multiplex owners, seeing such multiplicity of litigation, have moved the SC and filed the transfer petition simply on the ground that many cases are pending in HC," said Aditya Pratap, PIL lawyer.

In a setback for the multiplex owners in Maharashtra, the state government in July had allowed the moviegoers to carry their own food items with them in cinema halls.

The Multiplex Association of India (MAI), however, had said that the owners were awaiting the order to be given before they begin allowing outside food in the theatres.

Multiplexes get most of their revenues from three sources — box office collections, food and beverages and advertisements, of which box office collections contribute a major share.