Hyderabad: A house motion was filed before Telangana high court on Saturday challenging a memo issued by the state home department allowing a temporary hike in movie ticket prices for the Telugu film ‘Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu’ starring Chiranjeevi.The court refused to entertain the petition at this stage and directed the petitioner to approach the court on its reopening day (Jan 19) after Sankranti vacation.The govt decision to hike ticket rates for the movie came a day after the high court censured authorities for repeatedly violating court orders and issuing such memos on weekends and days when the court was on vacation, precluding citizens from exploring legal remedies.On Friday, the court suspended a similar memo allowing a ticket price hike for ‘Raja Saab’ starring Prabhas, while strictly directing that no such memos for price hikes be issued in the future.The petitioner in the present petition, an advocate and moviegoer, questioned the legality of the memo allowing an increase of Rs 50 for single-screen theatres and Rs 100 for multiplexes for seven days.Stating that the memo was illegal and contrary to the Telangana Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1955, and earlier high court orders restraining such price hikes, the petitioner sought to impose Rs 5 lakh in costs on the special chief secretary (home department), who issued the memo and requested that the amount be recovered from the officer’s salary.
