- (1.) Whether the proprietor of a cinema theatre holding a licence for exhibiting cinematograph films is entitled to invoke the certiorari jurisdiction ex debito justitiae to get a "No-Objection Certificate', granted under Rule 6 of the Bombay Cinema Rules, 1954 (for short, the Rules) by the District Magistrate in favour of a rival in the trade, brought up and quashed on the ground that it suffers from a defect of jurisdiction, is the principal question that falls to be determined in this appeal by special leave.
(2.) The circumstances giving rise to this appeal are as follows : Respondents 1 and 2 are owners of a site, bearing Survey No. 98 in the town of Mehmadabad. They made an application under R. 3 of the Rules to District Magistrate, Kaira, for the grant of a Certificate that there was no objection to the location of a cinema theatre at this site. The district Magistrate then notified in the prescribed form, the substance of the application by publication in newspapers, inviting objections to the grant of a No-Objection certificate. In response thereto, several persons lodged objections, but the appellants who are the proprietors of a cinema house, situated on Station Road, Mehmadabad, were not among those objectors. Some of the objections were that a Muslim graveyard, a Durgah, a composed depot, a school and public latrines were situated in the vicinity of the proposed site.
(3.) The District Magistrate (Res. 3 herein) invited the opinions of the Chairman of Nagar Panchayat, Executive Engineer Roads and Buildings, and the District Superintendent of Police. These three authorities opined that they had no objection to the grant of the Certificate applied for. The District Magistrate visited the site on 27-7-1970. Thereafter he submitted a report to the State Government (Res. 4) that the proposed site was not fit for the location of a cinema house. He recommended that the 'No-Objection Certificate' should be refused. The State Government did not agree with the recommendation of the District Magistrate and directed the latter to grant the Certificate. Accordingly, the District Magistrate granted the 'No-Objection Certificate' on 27-11-1970 to Res. 1 and 2.;