The Supreme Court stayed a Telangana High Court order requiring the government to publish cinema ticket price hike decisions 90 days before a film’s release. The Court said the rule could disrupt film releases across the State and allowed the existing approval system to continue.
The Supreme Court on Friday stayed an interim order of the Telangana High Court that required the State government to publicly disclose any decision allowing an increase in cinema ticket prices at least 90 days before the release of a film.
A Bench comprising Justices JK Maheshwari and AS Chandurkar observed that the direction issued by the High Court could have a wide impact on the film industry in Telangana because it would affect the release of movies across the State. Considering this concern, the Supreme Court decided that the order needed immediate intervention. As a result, the Court stayed the High Court’s directive for now and allowed the current system for approving ticket price hikes to continue.
The petition before the Supreme Court was filed by film production company Mythri Movie Makers. Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Niranjan Reddy appeared on behalf of the production house and challenged the High Court’s interim order.
During the hearing, the counsel for the petitioner argued that the interim direction issued by the High Court had the practical effect of disrupting the release schedule of films in Telangana. According to them, the order could create serious difficulties for producers and distributors who often finalize ticket pricing decisions shortly before the release of a movie.
They told the Court,
“The nature of the interim order passed in that case has an effect of stalling everybody,”
emphasizing that the direction could halt or delay film releases.
The petitioner’s counsel also questioned the basis for the High Court’s requirement that ticket price decisions must be made public 90 days before the film’s release. They argued that such a rule was unrealistic in the film industry where production timelines and release plans frequently change within short periods.
They told the Court,
“Now, movie is being released next week. How can it be? And from where you get this 90 days? Movies are made inside 90 days,”
highlighting the impractical nature of the requirement.
Further, the counsel argued that the High Court had passed similar interim orders in other cases without hearing all the parties who would be affected by the decision. According to them, issuing such directions without giving stakeholders a chance to present their views was legally improper.
They submitted before the Court,
“The learned judge has passed three similar orders in three different cases… you can’t do this by an ad-interim order. You don’t hear anybody,”
questioning the manner in which the interim orders were passed.
The order that was challenged before the Supreme Court had been issued by Justice NV Shravan Kumar of the Telangana High Court on January 20, 2026. The High Court was hearing a writ petition filed by advocate Dachepally Chandra Babu.
In his petition, Babu challenged a memo issued on January 8, 2026 by the Telangana Home Department. The memo had permitted enhanced ticket prices for the film Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu, which was released on January 12.
The petitioner argued before the High Court that permissions for ticket price hikes are often granted only a few days before a movie is released. Because of this, stakeholders and members of the public do not get enough time to challenge such decisions if they believe the hike is unfair or illegal.
He also pointed out that Section 7A of the Telangana Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1955 allows stakeholders to seek a review of decisions approving ticket price increases within 90 days.
Taking note of this argument, the High Court issued an interim direction stating that any future decision allowing cinema ticket price hikes must be placed in the public domain at least 90 days before the release of the film. The purpose of this direction was to give stakeholders sufficient time to challenge the decision under Section 7A of the 1955 Act.
The High Court directed the Telangana government and the Hyderabad Police Commissioner, who acts as the Cinemas Licensing Authority, to comply with this requirement.
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However, the film production company Mythri Movie Makers challenged this direction before the Supreme Court, arguing that it would create major difficulties for the film industry and delay movie releases across the State.
After hearing the submissions, the Supreme Court stayed the operation of the High Court’s interim order. As a result, the earlier system for approving cinema ticket price hikes in Telangana will continue for now until the matter is examined further by the Court.
Case Title:
Mythri Movie Makers vs. Dachepally Chandra Babu.
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