Cinema-goers need not stand when the National Anthem is played in a scene in a movie and documentary or as part of the story in a newsreel, the Supreme Court clarified on Tuesday.
The order was in continuation of the court’s November 30, 2016 order directing all cinema theatres in the country to play the National Anthem before the start of a film wherein all the people in the hall are required to stand.
Issuing a clarification, a Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and R Banumathi said, “It is clarified that when the National Anthem is played as part of the storyline of a film, newsreel or a documentary, the audience need not stand.”
However, on the issue of whether the initial order about playing the National Anthem at the beginning of a movie violated the fundamental right of free speech and expression under the Constitution guaranteed to citizens, the Bench did not issue any clarification and kept the question open for debate on April 18, the next date of hearing.
Tuesday’s clarification became necessary after several incidents came to light of people beating up viewers who did not stand up when the National Anthem was played in a scene in a movie. In a specific incident on January 23, a 59-year-old man was beaten inside a suburban Goregaon theatre in Mumbai for not standing up while the National Anthem was playing in a scene during the screening of the Aamir Khan-starrer Dangal.
The court’s initial order enforcing the National Anthem in cinema theatres came on a PIl filed by one Shyam Narayan Chouksey. While passing a slew of directions, the court had observed, “The time has come when citizens must realise that they live in a nation and are duty-bound to show respect to the National Anthem which is a symbol of constitutional patriotism and inherent national quality.”