Observing that its order should not be “overstretched”, the Supreme Court on Friday declined to entertain the plea of a lawyer who wanted the national anthem to be played not only in cinema halls but also in courts across the country before the start of daily proceedings.
“Who are you? Rightly or wrongly, we have already passed our order… it cannot be overstretched now…what is this? We are not inclined,” a bench led by Justice Dipak Misra told Delhi-based lawyer Ashwani Upadhyay, who had moved the application.
On Wednesday, the bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy on Wednesday had ordered 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” as a part of their “sacred obligation”.
Upadhyay said the order was “great” but should be modified to include courts also.
“You don’t have to put adjectives… we have already passed our order and it was in connection with a specific petition,” retorted the bench today.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, whose presence was sought by the bench when Upadhyay mentioned his plea, supported the court’s view. “Yes, an order has already been made. There is no reason why an application should be filed now,” he said.
The bench then remarked that the bar should some some restraint and try not to stretch it too far.
Upadhyay submitted that he would file a separate petition with this plea, but the court said it would not want to comment on it. “You do whatever you want but we are not taking it now,” said the bench, referring to the lawyer’s application.
Since the court did not dismiss Upadhyay’s plea by a written order, the lawyer still has the option of moving a petition.
