SC refuses to modify order on Nat'l Anthem

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to modify its December 2016 order regarding playing of the National Anthem in movie theatres and asked the Centre to consider amending the national flag code.
The apex court set January 9 as the next date for hearing. On December 1, 2016, the SC had ordered that to instill "committed patriotism and nationalism 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" as a part of their "sacred obligation".
A bench, comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, indicated that it might modify the earlier order and replace the word "shall" with "may". It said the Centre had to take a call uninfluenced by its 2016 order.
Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, said India was a diverse country and the National Anthem need to be played in cinema halls to bring in uniformity.
Last year, the SC had said that "love and respect for the motherland are reflected when one shows respect to the national anthem as well as to the national flag", even though it did not lay down any punishment for violation of its order. The court had also barred printing of the anthem or a part of it on any object and displaying it in such a manner at places that might be "disgraceful to its status and tantamount to disrespect".
The court's directions had come on a PIL filed by one Shyam Narayan Chouksey seeking directions that the anthem should be played in all the cinema halls before a film begun.