Sunday, December 18, 2016

Where Supreme Court of India is heading?

I never felt so much lost when there was continuous washout of Indian parliament; more or less this became a norm than an anomaly. Nevertheless, there was a different set of expectations from SCI. Couple of recent judgements based hardly on any rational thought made a huge dent on those expectations.

Most important of that, is the issue of playing national anthem before the beginning of every movie in theaters. In response to writ petition (855/2016) ‘Shyam Narayan Chouksey’ Vs ‘Union of India’ Supreme Court told,

(a)    There shall be no commercial exploitation to give financial advantage or any kind of benefit…
Well, first point is fine.

(b)    There shall not be dramatization of the National Anthem and it should not be included as a part of any variety show…
Ok, let’s agree for a moment and go on.

(c)     National Anthem or a part of it shall not be printed on any object and also never be displayed in such a manner at such places which may be disgraceful to its status and tantamount to disrespect…
Shall not be printed? What about printing the anthem in books? What about writing it down? Aren’t we going to the extremes?

(d)    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.

(e)    Prior to the National Anthem is played or sung in the cinema hall on the screen, the entry and exit doors shall remain closed so that no one can create any kind of disturbance which will amount to disrespect to the National Anthem. After the National Anthem is played or sung, the doors can be opened.

(f)      When the National Anthem shall be played in the Cinema Halls, it shall be with the National Flag on the screen.

Points d, e, f constitutes the worst part of the judgement. On what basis SC made it mandatory to sing national anthem in movie theatres? What made movie theatres so special? Do movie theatres represents the idea of India? temple of democracy? most sacrosanct place in India?

If I want to hear national anthem I will play it. If someone is singing at the beginning of a related function – like flag hosting etc. – I will stand up out of deep respect I have.  When I hear the anthem in the back drop of Himalayan snow or republic day parade my mind will be filled with pride and happiness.

Does that mean I should wake up and respect when I travel in a bus and then anthem is played at nearby school? Or word when someone is driving bike? Just imagine, in movie theatres a B grade movie is getting played right after national anthem. I think this judgement itself is a disrespect to national anthem.

By the way, why insists on Movie theatres? Why not on Indian Parliament, Government offices and of course why not play the anthem at the beginning of every hearing at Supreme court?

Respect is something which comes from our mind not an injectable.

Now there are reports in newspapers that people are getting attacked in movie theaters for not standing up during national anthem.

(g)    The abridge version of the National Anthem made by any one for whatever reason shall not be played or displayed.

Come on.There are millions of cases pending in so many courts in India. In Supreme Court, itself there may be thousands of cases. Life of millions depends on those verdicts. People come to SCI with the hope that they will get justice. Justice delayed is equivalent to justice denied.  With all due respect, SCI, should not entertain these types of verdicts.

Sajeev

References

1 comment:

  1. Let's hope for a
    "change of mind " from SCI, to keep up its dignity.

    ReplyDelete