The Supreme Court on Tuesday clarified that people are not obliged to stand up when the national anthem is played as and in part of a film or documentary.
The verdict also says that people don't need to sing the national anthem when it is being played before the screening of a film.
On 30 November, 2016, the apex court passed an order making it compulsory for all movie theatres to play the national anthem before each screening for what it called 'the love of the motherland'.
A bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Dipak Misra, had passed the order while hearing the petition filed by Shyam Narayan Chouksey seeking directions that the national anthem should be played in cinema halls across the country before a film begins and proper norms and protocol be fixed regarding its playing and singing at official functions and the programs where constitutional dignitaries are present.
While pronouncing the ruling, the apex court had said, "A time has come, the citizens of the country must realize that they live in a nation and are duty bound to show respect to National Anthem, which is the symbol of the constitutional patriotism and inherent national quality.
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