High Court dismisses PIL against 100% occupancy in cinema halls

The Madras High Court on Monday dismissed a public interest litigation petition which challenged the State government’s recent nod for 100% occupancy in cinema halls despite the threat of COVID-19 not

The Madras High Court on Monday dismissed a public interest litigation petition which challenged the State government’s recent nod for 100% occupancy in cinema halls despite the threat of COVID-19 not having subsided completely. The court, however, requested the government to review the situation depending upon the number of COVID-19 positive cases detected in individual cities, towns and other localities.

Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P.D. Audikesavalu said that the courts should be slow in entering into administrative domain without there being any concrete material to disprove the basis on which the government had taken the decision. The judges also said that there would always be a presumption in favour of the State that when it takes certain decisions, they would have been taken only after due diligence.

“There is no doubt that the pandemic has not gone away. Yet, the recent number of COVID-19 positive cases, even during the festive season, does not raise any alarm of a third surge,” the judges said with a rider that there could still not be any room for complacency.