WELLINGTON TALKIES Vs. COLLECTOR OF TIRUCHIRAPALLI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution raise the trite question, one on which there has been an uniformity of opinion expressed in this Court, whether the power vested in the licensing authority under the terms of the licence issued under the Madras Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1.955, to cancel or suspend the licence can be exercised not merely for a contravention of the terms thereof but to breaches of the provisions of the Act and the Rules made there under.

(2.) UNDER Section 10 of the Act the Government is empowered to make Rules inter alia providing for the terms, conditions and restrictions, subject to which a licence may be granted under the Act. The Rules which prescribed the conditions applicable to, and the procedure for obtaining, a licence, provide a standard form for the licence, it being left to the licensing authority to add thereto appropriate additional conditions. The relevant portion of a licence is as follows:

(3.) IN the other petition, which likewise relates to a permanent cinema theatre in Tirunelveli, named Palace De Wales, the petitioner was found on 2nd June, 1960, to have committed a similar offence and his licence was directed to be suspended for a period of fifteen days.