New Delhi: Amid the debate over National Anthem being played in the cinema halls, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said that National Anthem is not mandatory in cinema halls.
Modifying its past order of playing National Anthem in cinema halls, the apex court said, “It’s not mandatory to play national anthem in cinema halls.”
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On November 30, 2016, a Supreme Court Bench led by Justice Dipak Misra, before he became Chief Justice of India, had directed that “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 court had justified that the playing of the anthem cinema halls is to be conceived as an opportunity for the public to express their ‘love for the motherland’
The Bench had observed that said the protocol of showing respect and honour to the anthem was rooted in “our national identity, national integrity and constitutional patriotism.”