STATE OF PUNJAB AND ANOTHER vs HARI KRISHAN SHARMA

The Supreme Court held that under Section 5(2) of the Punjab Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1952, the licensing authority is solely responsible for dealing with applications for cinema licenses, and the State Government cannot usurp this function through executive orders. The Court clarified that while the State Government has wide control, it must operate as an appellate or revisional authority and cannot directly handle applications. The High Court's ruling that the State Government lacked authority to require forwarding of applications was upheld, and previous conflicting judgments were overruled.