1954 (10) TMI 54

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....ain conditions in the licence imposed by the District Magistrate, Tanjore, in pursuance of 2 notifications (G.O. Mis. 1054, Home, dated 28th March, 1948, and G.O. Mis. 3422, dated 15th September, 1948) issued by the State of Madras purporting to act in exercise of powers conferred by section 8 of the Cinematograph Act of 1918. The impugned conditions may conveniently be set out here : "4(a) The licensee shall exhibit at each performance one or more approved films of such length and for such length of time, as the Provincial Government or the Central Government may, by general or special order, direct. (b) The licensee shall comply with such directions as the Provincial Government may by general or special order give as to ....

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....itions do not, as being outside the scope of the Cinematograph Act, amount to reasonable restrictions imposed in the interest of the general public. 4. We are of opinion that this appeal can be disposed of on the second ground. It may be stated that the Madras Cinematograph Rules, 1933, were amended by the notification G.O. Mis. 1054, Home, dated March, 28, 1948, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 8 of the Cinematograph Act, 1918 (Central Act II of 1918), and in place of condition 4 of the licence in Form A, the impugned conditions were inserted. Section 8 empowers the State Government to make rules for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of the Act. The object of the Act as stated in the preamble is to make pr....

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....icensee to show approved films of such great length as may exhaust the whole of the time or the major portion of it intended for each performance. The fact that the length of the time for which the approved films may be shown is also unspecified leads to the same conclusion, in other words, the Government may compel a licensee to exhibit an approved film, say for an hour and a half or even 2 hours. As the condition stands, there can be no doubt that there is no principle to guide the licensing authority and a condition such as the above may lead to the loss or total extinction of the business itself. A condition couched in such wide language is bound to operate harshly upon the cinema business and cannot be regarded as a reasonable restrict....