No National Anthem at courts

Bench that ordered Anthem in theatres rejects plea

The Supreme Court on Friday declined to entertain at this stage an application from BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay for a direction to make the playing of the National Anthem compulsory at courts throughout the country.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Amitav Roy refused to entertain the application after Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the court that it was not in the appropriate format. The court accepted his stand and rejected the petition on technical grounds.

The petitioner mentioned the application to the bench which on Wednesday had made playing the National Anthem compulsory at cinema halls throughout the country.

He requested the bench to slightly modify the order or to pass another order to make the National Anthem compulsory at the subordinate, district, higher courts and the Supreme Court, as it would definitely promote fraternity, unity and national integration. He said that as a guardian of the Constitution, it was the duty of the Supreme Court to take appropriate steps to “achieve the great golden goals as set out in Preamble of the Constitution.”

With an aim to instill a sense of patriotism among the citizens, the court had stated in an interim order on Wednesday: “All the cinema halls in India shall play the National Anthem before the feature film starts and all present in the hall are obliged to stand up to show respect to the National Anthem. Prior to the National Anthem being played or sung in the cinema screen, the entry and exit doors shall remain closed so that no one can create any kind of disturbance which will amount to the disrespect to the National Anthem. After the National Anthem is played or sung, the doors can be opened.”

The court had said that when the National Anthem was played in cinema halls, it should be with the National Flag on the screen. “The abridged version of the National Anthem made by anyone for whatever reason shall not be played or displayed,” it said.