National Anthem must be played before movies, flag to be shown on screen: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered that the National Anthem must be played in public theaters across the country before a movie, minus any dramatisation. It also ordered that the national flag be shown on screen when the anthem is played.

SC said that the National Anthem should not be dramatised or commercially exploited: Abhinav Srivastav, Legal Counsel for Petitioner pic.twitter.com/o0qj6qvbIN

— ANI (@ANI) November 30, 2016

SC directed the Centre that the order should be given effect in a week’s time and be circulated to all the states and UTs.

A bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Amitava Roy said that this would instill a feeling of constitutional patriotism and nationalism. “It is the duty of every citizen to abide by the ideals ingrained in the Constitution and as such show respect to the National Anthem and the national flag,” the bench said.

“People must feel this is my country and this is my motherland,” the bench said. “At the root of protocol for national anthem, is respect for national identity, integrity and constitutional patriotism,” the bench said.

The court’s order came on a public interest litigation (PIL) by Shayam Narayan Chouksey seeking framing of guidelines on the playing of the National Anthem.

The apex court said the anthem should not be printed or displayed on undesirable objects, and also barred it from being played on variety shows and its abridged version anywhere.

According to ANI, the order comes with additional caveats such as everyone present in the hall must rise and “pay respect” to the National Anthem.

Directing that its order be shown in electronic and print media and be followed in letter and spirit, the court said, “Time has come when people should feel they live in a nation” and “even in Shastras, nationalism was accepted.”

In October this year, the  Delhi High Court issued a notice to the Centre and the Delhi government on a plea for directions to make playing of the national anthem mandatory in all cinema halls/theatres before movie shows. The plea had said that Maharashtra, Goa and several southern states have had the practice of playing the national anthem in cinema halls and also observed that a few decades ago it was mandatory to play the national anthem at the end of the screening of a movie.

The apex court had last month issued a notice to the Centre asking it to specify what would constitute disrespect to the national anthem.

With inputs from agencies