Hyderabad: Telangana high court on Wednesday set aside a single judge’s order that restrained standalone cinema theatres in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and other municipal areas from collecting parking fees from moviegoers who produced movie tickets. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin issued the directions while hearing an appeal filed by standalone theatres, including Sudarshan 35 MM and RR Cine Enterprises. The bench clarified that the interim order issued by the single judge on March 6 would apply only to Asian Konark theatre, where the petitioner had alleged that parking charges were collected from him despite producing a movie ticket. The case stems from a challenge to a 2021 GO that allowed standalone cinema theatres to collect parking fees from persons parking vehicles on their premises. The govt had said the decision was taken because vehicles belonging to non-cinema-goers were also being parked in these spaces, creating maintenance and safety concerns. The single judge had suspended the GO while referring to a 2018 GO which clarified that commercial establishments, malls, multiplexes and theatres should not collect parking fees, subject to conditions relating to the purpose and duration of the visit. While hearing the appeal, the division bench observed that the writ petitioner had made only one theatre a respondent, but the single judge’s order operated in rem (against a larger issue). The bench said the appellant theatres and other similarly placed theatres may implead themselves in the pending writ petition and present their contentions before the court.
