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The Tamil Nadu Government’s recent order dated 4th January, 2021, pertaining to the seating capacity of movie theatres and multiplexes becomes the issue in the present matter. The Government allowed the order of 100% occupancy in cinemas after being persuaded by the requests of prominent Kollywood actors including Vijay Silambarasan. He had met with the Chief Minister last week, regarding the same.
The PIL was moved by advocate PS Prabhu who practices at the High Court challenging the said order. His main contentions were in light of the present situation of COVID-19 that the country finds itself in and how the new order goes against the norms and precautions that must be maintained. He insists that the closed environment of a cinema hall where air conditioning is used, and people sit in close proximity with each other, can be hazardous when seating is allowed in maximum capacity. He reinstates that this precarious situation would cause an increased risk of transmission of the virus and cause an unnecessarily imposed burden on the medical staff that are already in duress. He finally asserts that this new order would result in a serious threat to the life of the people of Tamil Nadu. The order also finds itself in direct contravention of the Union Health Ministry’s guidelines for COVID-19, wherein only up to 50% of the seating capacity is allowed in theatres and multiplexes, which are located outside containment zones.
The Petitioner tried to move the motion on an urgent basis, however, it was declined by the online Two-Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthikumar Ramamoorty, as they were of the opinion that the matter should be taken in chronologically. The Chief Justice, also, observed that the system should be where matters that come first should be given priority, and later matters should be heard later. Hence, while a certain order can lead to a drastic rise in the number of cases of the virus in Tamil Nadu, the court insisted on prioritizing its regular list for the day.
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