Supreme Court Verdict On Playing National Anthem In Theatres

Supreme Court of India has recently announced the verdict on the case of playing National Anthem in the cinema halls that had been in force for over a year.  In the latest verdict, announced on January 9, the Supreme Court had clarified that there is no need of playing the national anthem compulsorily across nationwide theatres.  In addition, it also remarked that the idea is more like a forceful recommendation for the moviegoers and a fake depiction of patriotism.  A bench of justices Dipak Mishra and Amitava Roy has announced the latest verdict in connection to another order mandated by the court on November 30, 2016.

The order read -All 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.  The Supreme Court later looked into the order.  The order could be described as a forceful attempt to falsify the idea of patriotism and nationalism. Standing at the time of national anthem does not indicate the idea of patriotism.  The order also toned autocratic as the old and invalid persons were forced to stand up in theatres.

A year after, a change had been made by Mukul Rohatgi who had requested the court to consider the decision of playing national anthem in cinema halls and make it optional.  Following the petition submitted by the centre, Supreme Court has assured the issue would remain in operation till the committee resolves the matter.  It is not clarified whether the announcement is applicable for Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh that had mandated playing national anthems throughout the states.