New Delhi: It is no longer mandatory for cinemas to play the national anthem before every film show after the Supreme Court on Tuesday modified an earlier order and removed the compulsion.
Chief Justice Dipak Misra, however, clarified that if a cinema chose to play the national anthem, people would have to stand up to show respect.
The order came after the government informed the court that it had formed a 12-member inter-ministerial committee to frame guidelines for occasions on which the national anthem is to be played or sung in theatres.
Until the committee submits its recommendations, a process that is likely to take six months, it was urged that the apex court may consider restoring the position as it stood before the order was passed on 30 November 2016.
The committee will be headed by the additional secretary (border management), ministry of home affairs, and include representatives from the ministries of defence, external affairs, culture, child and women development and parliamentary affairs.
“The government has formed a committee which will look into all these issues. There are issues related to divyangs (differently abled) and elderly who may find it difficult to stand. Our commitment to national anthem is complete. I am surprised that some Congress leaders have been making divergent stand on the issue,” Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters.
“As far as Congress party is concerned, about the national anthem, its respect, we do not want to make comments of any nature. We do want to say that what the Supreme Court and the government which respects the national anthem, all citizens of India are with them,” Raj Babbar, Congress spokesperson told reporters.
In October, the apex court put the onus on the centre for amending the laws to regulate playing of national anthem in cinema halls. In doing so, it declined to modify its November order under which it had issued a slew of directions on when and how the national anthem must be played.
Justice D.Y. Chandrachud had opposed the practice of mandatory standing up for the national anthem before a movie, saying, “Just because a person does not stand up for it, does not mean that they are anti-national. People go to watch movies for entertainment and when will this moral policing stop?”
The court was hearing a PIL by Shyam Narayan Chouksey, which was the basis for the November 2016 order, seeking mandatory playing of the national anthem in cinemas before every screening and for everyone in the audience to stand up.
Chouksey had moved the apex court seeking guidelines on when and how the national anthem must be played in accordance with the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971. The Act, along with advisory guidelines issued by the home ministry prohibits desecration of or insult to the country’s national symbols, including the national flag, the Constitution, the Indian map and the national anthem. Offences under this law are punishable by imprisonment of up to three years.
Anuja contributed to this story.