Shyam Narayan Chouksey v. Union of India & Ors.
Background
The petitioner, describing himself as a public-spirited citizen, asked the Supreme Court to direct the government to lay down clear rules on showing respect to the National Anthem and to curb its commercial misuse. In an interim order in November 2016, the Court had made it mandatory for all cinema halls in India to play the National Anthem before every feature film, with doors closed and the audience required to stand, later carving out exemptions for various categories of disabled persons. The Central Government subsequently set up an Inter-Ministerial Committee to study the issue and, through the Attorney General, asked the Court to make the cinema-hall requirement optional rather than compulsory pending that Committee's recommendations.
Decision Breakdown
The Court held that while every citizen is bound to show respect whenever the National Anthem is played, the specific question of where and how that respect must be shown (such as in a cinema hall) is a matter for the executive to regulate by law, not something the Court should permanently mandate through litigation. It therefore modified its earlier interim order so that playing the National Anthem before feature films in cinemas became optional/directory rather than mandatory, leaving the Inter-Ministerial Committee and the Central Government free to decide the issue uninfluenced by the Court's earlier directions. It disposed of the writ petition, while clarifying that citizens remain bound to show respect under the existing 1971 Act and executive orders whenever the Anthem is actually played, and that the disability exemptions already granted would continue until the government's final decision.
Lesson Learnt
Interim directions issued by courts to fill a policy gap are not meant to become permanent law, once the government takes up the issue through a proper committee and rule-making process, the Supreme Court will generally step back and hand the specific regulatory choices (like whether standing for the anthem in cinemas is compulsory) to the executive and legislature.