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After nearly two and a half decades, the Uphaar cinema fire case is again in the news. The Consumer Court cited one of the many notes of the case to provide relief to moviegoers in Assam.
According to the complainant, on 20 October 2018, she had gone with her family to Galleria Cinemas in Bangagarh, Guwahati. She claimed that the cinema hall was not properly managed. Empty bottles, leftover popcorn, and other trash can be seen piling up behind the seats. After the break, I noticed something had bit her foot and it was bleeding. Given the condition of the movie theater, I assumed it was a snakebite.
The complainant was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was kept under observation for two hours due to a rat bite. The woman was later given rabies injections and prescribed medication. In her complaint, she said that these drugs were strong and caused problems that hindered their efficacy.
The complainant was also disturbed by the insulting behavior of the hall management. According to her, there was no one presenting the cinema hall to escort her to the hospital, even though the shift manager agreed to that. Apparently, she and her husband also tried to settle the incident, but the two vice principals refused to do so. They offered her free movie tickets when what she needed was first aid.
Then I contacted the Kamrup District Consumer Dispute Handling Commission (DCDRC). She requested Rs 6,02,282.48 from the cinema hall management. It includes a special sum of Rs 3,50,000 and Rs 2,50,000 in compensation for mental anguish, pain and suffering, along with her mental anguish.
For their part, the directors of cinemas confirmed that the woman refused to receive first aid and go to the nearest hospital. They alleged that the complainant only wanted to harass them. They also challenged the allegation that the cinema hall had not been cleaned. Instead, they emphasized that pest control and other measures to maintain cleanliness are standard practice. Hence, they asked the committee to reduce the amount of compensation to Rs 15,000.
However, they did not provide any document to refute the complainant’s allegations. On the contrary, the woman had many documents proving that she had visited Namkare Hospital and received anti-rabies injections.
A related question was whether the Hall authorities could be held responsible for the rat bite. A compensatory mechanism can only be established after this has been proven. The seat consisting of Chairman AFA Bora, members Archana Deka Lakhar and Tutumoni Deva Goswami relied on the Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy case to prove their responsibility.
What is important is that the duty of care is not a one-time thing. It is a continuing obligation that the occupier owes to every invitee, contractually or otherwise, every time an exhibition of cinematography is held. What is equally important is that not only under common law but even in Under the legal system, the obligation to ensure the safety of invitees is undeniable, and any neglect of duty is prosecutable as civil and criminal wrong, depending on whether the negligence is simple or gross, said one of the remarks.
Relying on this and a thorough reading of the oral evidence and testimonies at its disposal, the Consumer Tribunal concluded that there was no regular survey after each presentation. Food, popcorn, and other items that are regularly found on the floor are what cause mice to move around. She added that this was due to the lack of proper hygiene and supervision to ensure the safety and health of the cinema hall.
In establishing liability under the Cinematography Act, the Consumer Court said, “As such, we. the parties were negligent in maintaining the sanitary condition of the cinema hall to provide proper service to viewers as required by the Cinematography Act and other obligations of the hall owners.”
However, the court reduced the amount of compensation requested by the complainant. For mental anguish, she must be given 40,000 rupees for pain and suffering, and 20,000 rupees must be paid for her. Ultimately, the hall authorities were directed to pay a cumulative compensation amount of Rs 67,282 to the complainant within 45 days. Failing that, it will entail interest at the rate of 12 percent per annum.
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