Eminent jurist and former Attorney-General of India Soli Sorabjee has rightly demanded that the Supreme Court review its order on compulsory playing of the National Anthem in cinema halls before the start of films. The apex court's order is per incuriam (an order that is passed in disregard of a binding authority). Moreover, the court, in its order, did not refer to its earlier verdict in Bijoe Emmanuel case, where it had ordered a school in Kerala to take back three children it had expelled for not singing the National Anthem.
Instead, singing of the National Anthem should be made mandatory at the start of functioning of all courts and legislative bodies. It may be recalled that Bahujan Samaj Party parliamentarian Shafique-din Barq made a deliberate walk-out from lok Sabha in May 2013, during the playing of Vande Mataram. The National Anthem was also curtailed at AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa's swearing-in ceremony in 2015. Unfortunately, no action was taken against the them for such disrespect to the National Song and the National Anthem.