HC dismisses plea against Bahubali

HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad high court on Friday dismissed a plea that sought its intervention to control the black marketing of Bahubali tickets across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Dilip B Bhosale and Justice S V Bhatt grew serious on petitioner Cine Prekshakula Sangham, which came to the court with no material to prove its case."This is a strange plea, do you want us to monitor the sale of tickets at theatres?" the bench asked the petitioner.
G L Narasimha Rao, counsel for the petitioner association, told the bench that the makers of the movie have connived with distributors, theatre managements and black marketeers and were selling tickets at more than Rs 1,000 per head. Citing the example of the movie 'Magadheera', where a stampede at a theatre in Warangal had resulted in the death of seven persons, the counsel also spoke about the lack of adequate security arrangements at theatres even now.
The bench however, said that the issues - one dealing with black marketing and the other about controlling crowds - were two different issues. "Controlling crowd is a law and order issue which the state and its police will take care. We have no doubts about that," the bench said.
On the other issue, the court sought the names of either distributors or theatre-owners who are indulging in the illegal practices. "Give us at least one single name, we will send him to jail," the bench said.
However, the counsel could not give any names and said he was only urging the court to ensure the implementation of the Cinematography Act. The bench said it wants proof to believe that the Act is not being followed. "Otherwise, how can we intervene," it said, and dismissed the plea.