Karnataka HC orders stay on fine imposed on PVR Cinemas for delayed start of movie
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Monday stayed the fine imposed by the Bengaluru Urban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission on PVR Cinemas for delaying the screening of cinemas by playing advertisements and also opined that the Commission order was beyond its jurisdiction limits in certain aspects.
The Commission had issued the order, following a complaint by one Abishek MR in January 2024 that PVR Cinemas had played a movie about 30 minutes later than the scheduled time due to advertisements as a result of which he could not return to office on time. The Commissioner had instructed PVR Cinemas to pay its customer Rs 1.28 as fine, stressing on the need to use time in an effective manner and not waste it.
Justice M Nagaprasanna heard the case on Monday, following a counter complaint being filed by Multiplex Association of India.
Senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi said that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had made it mandatory for movie theatres to screen public awareness videos for five minutes. Stating that showing trailers of other movies and advertisements was a business model, he said that it was ‘normal’ for a movie to start 15-20 minutes later than scheduled and stated that the consumer court had made it mandatory for theatres to print on the ticket the time at which advertisements would start.
Rohatgi also said that the Commission had no power to impose fines on theatres for delayed start of screening of movies.
The HC, hearing the petition, concurred that the Commission had no power to direct theatres on the way a movie should be run, adding that the forum had answered to the petition filed by the complainant forgetting that it lacked jurisdiction powers.
Justice Nagaprasanna passed an interim order of stay on the fine imposed on PVR Cinemas until the next hearing on March 27.
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Fired from family business, nephew breaks into uncle's shops in Delhi; arrested
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi Police has arrested a 22-year-old man who allegedly stole cash, a laptop and a mobile phone from his uncle's shop in Dwarka to take revenge after he was fired from the family business, officials said on Wednesday.
Piyush Tulswani, the accused, completed his Class 11 from Rajasthan's Pilani, after which he came back to live with his family, a senior police officer said.
His father, Kishan Tulswani, used to work as a sales manager at his uncle Jeetu's confectionery shops. After the death of his father, Piyush took up his position, the officer said.
Soon, Piyush started embezzling money from the shops, and was fired after Jeetu took note of the act, police said.
His mother also reprimanded him for embezzling money, after which Piyush left home and started living with his friend, the officer said.
Piyush hatched a plot to steal money from his uncle’s shops, which he knew well. Acting on his plan, he took his brother's scooter and broke open each shop, stealing cash, a laptop and a mobile phone.
On January 31, Jeetu reported the matter to police, accusing Piyush of committing burglaries at his shops located in Sector-18, Sector-11, Sector-12 and Sector-4, Dwarka, the officer said.
Jeetu also provided CCTV camera footage from the shops, in which Piyush could be seen breaking them open, he said.
Tracing his mobile phone locations to Safdarjang, Hauz Khas, Rajapuri and Dabri, police conducted several raids.
“He later switched off his phone to restrict access to his location,” the officer said.
On February 13, police received information that Piyush would come to the fruit mandi in Dabri around 9.30 am. Accordingly, a trap was laid, leading to the arrest of the accused, he said.
Initially, he did not confess to the crime, but when police showed him the CCTV clips, he admitted to committing the burglaries, the officer said.
