SC bins anthem plea for courts

TT, New Delhi, Dec. 2: The Supreme Court today declined to entertain a hastily filed plea seeking a directive for the national anthem to be played mandatorily in all courts, including the top court, two days after it ordered that the song be played in cinema halls.

A bench of Justices Deepak Mishra and Amitava Roy was not impressed with the plea by Ashwini Upadhyay, an advocate and Delhi BJP spokesperson. The bench had on November 30 passed an interim order making it mandatory for cinema halls across the country to play the national anthem and for people to stand up for the same .

"We don't need any adjectives. How can we allow you to intervene in the case? Let us see when the case comes up for hearing," Justice Dipak Misra, heading the bench, said after Upadhyay termed the theatre-related order "historic".

Attorney-general Mukul Rohatgi also agreed with the bench that the application was improperly filed. Rohatgi said Upadhyay should come up with a proper petition instead of a one-page application.

Upadhyay described the November 30 order as "great" and urged the bench to modify it for the anthem to be played in all courts, including the Supreme Court". But the judges rejected his plea. "We are not inclined...", Justice Misra said and moved on to other cases.

In his application, Upadhyay said making the anthem compulsory in courts would "promote fraternity, unity and national integration".

Speaking to reporters later, Upadhyay claimed his application had not been dismissed and that he was only asked to come up with a "proper petition". He said that would be filed by next week.