Standing Up for the National Anthem: What the Supreme Court Has Ruled

Why in News?

• An executive magistrate in Srinagar has sent 11 men to jail after they were detained for allegedly not rising for the National Anthem at an event.
• There have been many debates in the society and petitions were filed in the court as to whether and why it is important to stand whenever the national anthem is played and also if it has any effect upon constitutional patriotism - love and respect for the constitution.

 

Code of Conduct for The National Anthem

• Whenever the National Anthem is sung or played, the audience shall stand in the attention
• Do not indulge in any type of indiscriminate singing or playing of the Anthem.
• When the National Anthem is performed as part of a newsreel or documentary, the audience is not required to stand up.
• The full version of the anthem should be played in52 seconds and a short version consisting of the first and last lines of the National Anthem should be played in about 20 seconds.

 

Laws Related to The National Anthem

• The Prevention of Insults to National Honours Act, 1971
  • It prohibits the violation or insult to any national symbols which include the national flag, the Constitution of India, the national anthem, and the map of India.
  • Any person who intentionally refuses or prevents the singing of the Indian National Anthem or if causes any disturbance in the assembly engaged in such singing, would be punished with imprisonment up to the term of 3 years or with fine or with both.
• Article 51 A of the Constitution of India: Fundamental Duties
  • The code of conduct for the national anthem is derived based on the first fundamental duty which says “To abide by the Indian Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem.”

 

Judicial Interventions and Outcomes

• Bijoe Emmanuel v. State of Kerala Case (1986)
  • The court granted protection to three children belonging to the millenarian Christian sect Jehovah’s Witnesses, who did not join in the singing of the National Anthem at their school.
  • The court held that forcing them to sing the Anthem violated their fundamental right to religion under Article 25 of the Constitution.
  • Their parents pleaded unsuccessfully before the Kerala HC that Jehovah’s Witnesses permitted worship of only Jehovah (a form of the Hebrew name for God), and since the Anthem was a prayer, the children could stand up in respect, but could not sing.
  • Standing up respectfully when the National Anthem is sung but not singing oneself does not either prevent the singing of the National Anthem or cause disturbance to an assembly engaged in such singing.
• Shyam Narayan Chouksey v. Union of India (2018)
  • This case originated in 2003. In this case, the petitioner filed a petition in Madhya Pradesh HC accusing director Karan Johar of insulting the national anthem in one of his movies.
  • The MP HC ordered to remove the film from the theatres unless the scenes that were depicting the national anthem were deleted.
  • In 2004 the director Karan Johar filed an appeal in the SC against the judgement pronounced by the MP HC in 2003.
  • The SC held that whenever a national anthem is played in the course of any newsreels, documentary, or a movie, the viewers or the audience is not expected to stand as that may interrupt the exhibition of the film and might create disorder or confusion.
  • While hearing the case, the court passed an interim order(2016) that “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.”
  • However, in its final judgement in the case passed on January 9, 2018, the court modified its 2016 interim order - playing of the National Anthem prior to the screening of feature films in cinema halls is not mandatory, but optional or directory.
• Tawseef Ahmad Bhat v. State of J&K (2021)
  • In this case, there was a party arranged for the celebration of a successful surgical strike. The celebration started with the singing of the national anthem.
  • Few students in the party claimed that one of the lecturers had shown disrespect towards the national anthem by not standing when the national anthem was being played.
  • The J&K HC held that not standing for the national anthem or singing it may amount to disrespecting the national anthem and also is a failure to adhere to the fundamental duties provided in the Constitution.
  • However, such actions do not amount to the offense under Section 3 of the Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act, 1971.

 

Conclusion

• There have been various precedents with regards to the legal perspective of the national anthem for decades.
• The recent judgments given by different courts have been pronounced with utmost good faith which tries to keep the sense of not just patriotism but also constitutional patriotism.

 

---

Q1) What is constitutional patriotism?

Constitutional patriotism means devotion, love, and loyalty towards the Constitution. Although, we can say that the Constitution best caters to the needs of the people and is a great choice to adopt the concept of constitutional patriotism but that is only in theoretical terms. It is quite difficult to execute it. Everyone respects each other but still there lies religious and cultural differences between people. Everyone thinks highly of their culture and treats the other one below themselves. Therefore, shifting this respect and love from their respective values and norms to a fixed set of rules can be a bit challenging.

 

Q2) When was ‘Jana Gana Mana’ chosen as the Indian National Anthem?

Ans. The Indian National Anthem is the first stanza of a  Bengali hymn ‘Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata’ written by Rabindra Nath Tagore. It was adopted as the Indian National Anthem on 24 January 1950 by the Constituent Assembly of India. Rabindranath Tagore had written the National Anthem of India on December 11, 1911, and was first sung on December 28, 1911, at the Congress session in Kolkata.

 

---

Source: The Indian Express