National Anthem must be played in movie theatres, flag to be shown on screen: SC .

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered that the National Anthem should be played in all cinema halls across the country before movie starts, accompanied by national flag on screen. In order, SC also stated that “everyone present in the cinema halls must rise and pay respect to the National Anthem”. A bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Amitava Roy said that this would instil feeling of constitutional patriotism and nationalism. The bench said: "It is the duty of every citizen to abide by the ideals ingrained in the Constitution and as such show respect to the National Anthem and the national flag." The court's order came on a public interest litigation (PIL) by Shayam Narayan Chouksey seeking framing of guidelines on the playing of the National Anthem. The apex court made it clear that there would be no commercial exploitation of the National Anthem. The bench in its order said that there should not be dramatisation of the anthem and it should not be printed on any "undesirable objects". The court also barred any playing of the abridged version of the National Anthem. The order would come into force in ten days' time. After the order by the apex court, the Centre agreed to circulate the order to all States' Chief Secretaries and also to publish it on electronic and print media. Earlier, there have been several debates and arguments over singing of National anthem, where a lot of people were lashed out at for not standing in the movie hall for the national anthem, which is usually played ahead of the movie. On the other hand, a lot of people criticized the habit of singing the national anthem in the hall saying, “it must not be sung under a closed roof”. (With additional information from IANS)