Rajkot: Bhavnagar district administration has suspended, with immediate effect, the operating and ticketing licence of Maxus Cinemas at Himalaya Mall following a surprise inspection that found multiple regulatory violations, including an expired fire safety certificate and unauthorised management arrangements.The suspension order was issued on Sep 10 and made public by the district administration on Tuesday.The action followed a surprise inspection by the city mamlatdar on Sep 7. An inquiry report submitted after the inspection listed 12 major violations at the multiplex, located on the second floor of Himalaya Mall.According to the official findings, the cinema’s fire safety certificate expired on June 19. The licence holder could neither produce proof of renewal nor documents showing that a renewal application was pending, the order stated. The administration observed that operating a cinema without valid fire safety clearance could pose a serious risk to human life and property in the event of an emergency.The inspection also flagged alleged administrative and licencing irregularities. The original licence, issued under the Gujarat Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 2004, to Manharlal B Mehta, a partner of Shreeji Exhibitors, had reportedly been sub-leased to Shreeji Cinemas, Borivali, Mumbai, under a leave-and-licence agreement that expired in Aug this year.Authorities said the cinema was being operated under an arrangement for which mandatory prior govt approval had not been obtained, in violation of Rule 131 of the Gujarat Cinema Rules, 2014. Discrepancies were also found in GST invoices, which were issued using the tax registration number of another entity.The authorised manager and ticket agent named in the cinema licence were not present during the inspection, according to the order. Unauthorised staff were allegedly found selling tickets from counters other than those approved under the licence.Officials also found that the cinema did not have a separate parking facility as required under its licence conditions. The multiplex was required to provide a separate parking, but no such arrangement was found during the inspection. The licence holder was also unable to produce an approved plan showing a dedicated parking facility for cinema patrons.Among other violations, the order stated that the operator had failed to maintain a visitor book recording inspections by officials, including the executive engineer, electrical inspector, health officer and fire officer. The cinema had also failed to prominently display precautionary instructions to be followed in the event of a fire.Exercising powers under Rule 136(2) of the Gujarat Cinema Rules, 2014, district magistrate Manish Kumar Bansal ordered the immediate suspension of cinema operations and ticket sales across all four screens until further orders.Copies of the suspension order were sent to the home department in Gandhinagar, the district superintendent of police and other local administrative officers for immediate enforcement.
