On Friday, the Bombay High Court dismissed a petition that sought the creation of guidelines to prevent black marketing and ticket scalping at large events. The case followed allegations of irregularities during the ticket sales for Coldplay’s upcoming concert in Navi Mumbai.
Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar stated that the issues raised in the plea fell under the legislative domain, and therefore, the court could not intervene. “This is a legislative and executive decision. The court cannot interfere. The government is at liberty to formulate legislation addressing the concerns raised in the petition,” the bench said.
However, the court allowed the petitioner to present the concerns to the relevant authorities. The petitioner, advocate Amit Vyas, had argued that the sale of tickets for major events, including concerts and live shows, was marred by illegal practices. Vyas claimed that such issues were evident during the Coldplay ticket sale on BookMyShow, where tickets were allegedly sold out too quickly, only to appear later at inflated prices on secondary websites.
The petition sought stronger measures to prevent black marketing and ticket scalping, citing similar issues during IPL matches, the 2023 Cricket World Cup, and concerts by Taylor Swift and Diljit Dosanjh. The petitioner argued that event organizers and ticketing platforms exploit fans by allowing tickets to be resold at much higher prices.
Vyas had also filed a complaint with the police’s economic offenses wing last year, which is still under investigation.
