Cinema halls can bar moviegoers from bringing food & beverages from outside: Supreme Court

way2barak, Jan.3: Cinema halls and multiplexes have the right to set terms and conditions and decide whether to allow food and beverages from outside, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha set aside a Jammu and Kashmir High Court order that had removed the ban on people carrying their own food and water in theatres.

Hearing a batch of appeals filed by multiplex owners and theatre owners of Jammu and Kashmir, the bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and justice PS Narasimha said, “The property of cinema halls constitutes private property of the owner of the cinema hall. The owner is entitled to fix such terms and conditions so long as it is not opposed to the public interest, safety and welfare.”

Agreeing that a cinema hall is a private property, CJI Chandrachud said it is not a gym that visitors need healthy food but a place of entertainment. He added: “What goes in is for the owner of the property to decide. So saying that arms are not allowed or no discrimination on the basis of caste or gender can be there is fine. But how can the High Court say that they can bring any food inside cinema halls?”

The bench, however, also directed cinema owners to make provisions for hygienic drinking water free of cost for all moviegoers and also allow parents with infants and children to carry a reasonable amount of food inside the theatres.