Overview

• Justice Ravi V. Hosmani stayed enforcement of the Karnataka Cinemas (Regulation) (Amendment) Rules, 2025, pending further orders.
• Multiplex Association of India, Hombale Films, and a PVR INOX shareholder led the challenge to the state’s price ceiling.
• Petitioners argue the cap is arbitrary, not traceable to the parent Act, violates Article 19(1)(g), and was improperly added as a proviso to Rule 55 without empirical basis.
• The state defends the measure as a public-interest policy within its constitutional authority under Entry 33, citing the March Budget announcement and a uniform cap with an exemption for premium multi-screen theatres of 75 seats or fewer.
• The court’s interim order blocks implementation for now; the bench noted a similar 2017 cap was stayed and later withdrawn, and asked the KFCC to justify its locus before intervening.