High Court seeks Centre, Delhi government response after PIL cites illegal hike in concert ticket prices

A bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela issued notices to the Union ministries of Electronics and Information Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Finance and Delhi government's Department of Trade and Taxes on the petition.

The Delhi High Court today (October 9) sought responses from the Centre and Delhi government on a public interest litigation (PIL) alleging illegal, manipulative and exploitive practice of ticket scalping, wherein event tickets are resold to people at inflated prices.

Concerts of Coldplay, Diljit Dosanjh and Karan Aujla

The petitioner, Rohan Gupta, referred to upcoming music concerts by British rock band Coldplay and singers Diljit Dosanjh and Karan Aujla. The court also issued notices to several private companies engaged in the ticketing business and listed the matter for further hearing on February 18.

The plea argued that the malpractice of ticket scalping distorts the fairness of the ticket-buying process and undermines the fan experience by creating an environment where only those willing to pay exorbitant amounts can attend events.

The PIL said scalping fosters a black market where fraudulent and counterfeit tickets become more prevalent, further exploiting consumers and sought a direction to the authorities to frame clear guidelines to prevent predatory re-sellers from illegally engaging in activity of black marketing of tickets.

'Dil-Luminati Tour' of Diljit Dosanjh

The plea further sought a direction for constitution of a committee to look into the issue alleging the same happened during the bookings of "Dil-Luminati Tour" of Dosanjh scheduled to take place on October 26 (Saturday) at the JLN Stadium in the national capital.

During the hearing, Delhi government standing counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi submitted that the issue is already covered under Section 112 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

He said when the practice of illegal sale of tickets being a criminal offence is already covered under the penal code, guidelines cannot be issued over and above what is described as an offence.

What comes under Section112 of BNS?

Section 112 of the BNS deals with petty organised crime and the punishment for such crimes. It defines petty organised crime as any illegal act committed by a member of a group or gang, either alone or jointly. These acts include theft, cheating, snatching, illegal sale of tickets and selling public examination question papers.

Who filed plea in court? 

The plea, filed through advocates Jatin Yadav, Gaurav Dua and Saurabh Dua, further argued that scalping transactions occurring through unregulated channels contributed to the growth of a shadow economy, depriving the state of funds that could otherwise support public services, infrastructure, or community development.