Its not mandatory to play national anthem in cinema halls, Supreme Court overturns their own order

The controversial move by the supreme court mandating cinmea halls to play national anthem before the screnning of the film is now considering to overturn its own order from November 2016.

The apex court of the country has accepted the Centre’s submission that an inter-ministerial group should take the final call on whether the national anthem should be played at movie theatres or not.

“A person who stands up when national anthem is played shows proper respect,” the Supreme Court observed today as it said that playing that anthem before the screening of a movie is not mandatory.

The Home Ministry told the Supreme Court that the government will form an inter-ministerial telling the Supreme Court that will send their recommendations on the cinema halls-national anthem matter.

However, the Supreme Court itself indicated that it may modify the November 2016 that had made the playing of the national anthem complusory at cinema halls even before the centre’s submission yesterday.

In October last year, Justice DY Chandrachud had askerd, “People go to cinema halls for undiluted entertainment. Why should we make choices for them? Why should we assume that if someone doesn’t stand up for anthem in the cinema hall, he is not patriotic?”

Justice Chandrachud went on to suggest that the Supreme Court may put the ball in the government’s court, saying, “Why doesn’t the Centre amend the law? Why should the burden be thrown on the judiciary? Tomorrow you will say ban people from wearing T-shirts and shorts to the cinema hall because it’s an insult to national anthem.”

“Where do you draw a line? Where does this moral policing stop?” Justice Chandrachud had also said.

The Centre had then indicated its position that the original November 2016 Supreme Court order on the national anthem in movie theatres should not be modified.

“Ours is a country with vast diversity of religion, region, race and caste, it becomes necessary to have a unifying force. By playing national anthem, people can come out believing we are all Indians,” Attorney General KK Venugopal, representing the Centre, had told the Supreme Court then.