Chandrachud Archives - Lokmarg

SC: Cinema Owners Can Prohibit Outside Food In Halls

By LokMarg 3rd January 2023

The Supreme Court on Tuesday observed that cinema hall owners are fully entitled to set their terms and conditions for selling food and beverages inside the halls.

“Suppose someone starts getting jalebis. The owner would not want anyone wiping their hands on the seats,” a bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha said.
The apex court further remarked that the “owners may not want the tandoori chicken to be bought in” but elaborated that no one was forcing cinemagoers to buy popcorn.

It said a moviegoer has a choice not to consume the food and beverages served inside theatres.

A cinema hall is the private property of the owner of such hall and he is entitled to put such terms and conditions as he deems fit provided the same are not contrary to public interest or safety, it further observed.

CJI Chandrachud said, “A cinema hall owner has the right to regulate the entry of food and beverage. Whether to consume what is available is entirely the choice of the moviegoer. Viewers visit halls for entertainment.”

The apex court said that the viewer has to adhere to the rules of the cinema hall owner and it is evidently a matter of a commercial decision of the theatre owner.

“The cinema hall is not a gym where you need healthy food. It is a place of entertainment. It is privately owned, so it is the owner’s prerogative,” the apex court noted.

The top court set aside the order of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court which had ordered multiplexes and movie theatres not to prevent cinemagoers from carrying their own food and beverages into movie halls.

The apex court was hearing a batch of appeals filed by theatre owners and the Multiplex Association of India challenging a 2018 verdict of the High Court. (ANI)

No Institution In A Democracy Is Perfect: CJI Chandrachud

By LokMarg 25th November 2022

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Friday while talking about the Collegium system of appointing judges, said that no institution in a democracy is perfect.

“No institution in a Constitutional democracy is perfect. We work within the existing framework of the Constitution and we are faithful soldiers who implement the Constitution,” said the CJI while speaking at the Constitution Day celebrations organized by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).

Merely reforming the Collegium system of the apex court or increasing the salary of judges will not ensure that good and qualified people join the court.

“Getting good people in judiciary is not just about reforming the collegium…” the CJI said, adding that lawyers joining the bench as judges is a call of conscience and a commitment to the public.

He said that system has to make the office of a judge appealing to young lawyers.

CJI said November 26, 1959, was an important day because it was when the constituent assembly adopted the Constitution. The process of nation-building is a constantly evolving task, he said.

Constitution is constantly evolving to meet the new social realities of the time, CJI said.

He further said that the working of the Constitution depends on how the district judiciary is working. When we celebrate the Constitution we must be conscious of histories prior to the adoption of the Constitution, he added.

CJI said the legal profession must shed away its colonial underpinnings and in a country like India where summers include extreme heatwaves because of climate change we must reconsider the strict dress code for lawyers, especially in summers. The strictness of attire should not lead to moral policing of women lawyers, he added.

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju also attending the event said that a country progresses in the visionary guidance of its leaders.

“If leaders become weak, the country becomes weak. If CJI becomes weak, Supreme Court becomes weak and if Supreme Court becomes weak, the judiciary becomes weak. I congratulate Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and know the judiciary will rise under him,” Rijiju said.

He said he is committed to creating better infrastructure in the country.

“Independence of the Indian judiciary is untouched. We are here to protect it. Hum sab Ek hai. Aapas mein ladna theek nahi hai. (We are all the same, we should not quarrel among ourselves),” he added.

Attorney General R Venkataramani said that we need to see what justice needs of different sections of the community and restructure fundamentally our court system, our law framing, and our law reforms.

It is time we have a permanent Law Commission which is assisted by the best quality of experts, he said. (ANI)

SC Grants 4 Weeks To Centre To Respond On Ram Sethu Plea

By LokMarg 10th November 2022

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted four more weeks to the Centre to file a response to a plea filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy seeking direction to the government to declare ‘Ram Sethu’ as a national heritage monument.

A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices Hima Kohli and JB Pardiwala adjourned the case after it was informed that an adjournment letter had been circulated by the Central government.
The counsel appearing for the Centre told the bench that the affidavit was ready to be filed, but they were awaiting instructions from the concerned Ministry.

Swamy said that the case has been pending for eight years but the government has not been able to respond to the plea.

He contended that on several occasions the Supreme Court had directed the Union government to file the affidavit, but nothing has been filed till date.

As the bench was initially granting two weeks to the Centre to file an affidavit, the counsel requested not to specify two weeks as it might take some time to get instructions from the Ministry.

CJI asked, “Why are you dragging your feet?”

In his plea, Swamy had urged the apex court to pass an order and direct the “Union of India along with National Monuments Authority (NMA) to declare Ram Setu as an Ancient Monument of National Importance.”

He had also urged the top court to pass an order and direct the “Union of India to engage the Geological Survey of India and Archeological Survey of India to conduct a detailed survey in respect to Ram Setu as an Ancient Monument of National Importance.”

Swamy said that he has already won the first round of the litigation in which the Centre accepted the existence of ‘Ram Sethu’ and added that the union minister concerned had called a meeting in 2017 to consider his demand to declare the Sethu as a national heritage monument but subsequently nothing happened.

Ram Sethu is a chain of limestone shoals between Pamban Island, also known as Rameswaram Island, off the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu, and Mannar Island, off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka. (ANI)