Plea on national anthem in movie halls; HC seeks govt response

New Delhi, Oct 17: A plea seeking directions to make it mandatory to play the national anthem in cinema halls before the start of every movie today led the Delhi High Court to seek the response of the Centre and the Delhi government.

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal issued notices to the Centre and AAP government seeking their replies on the petition by December 14, the next date of hearing. The plea has been moved by law graduate Harsh Nagar who is currently pursuing a career in Bollywood.

The petitioner has claimed that the practice of playing the national anthem existed in Maharashtra and some southern states. He has contended that till a few decades ago, the national anthem was mandatorily played after the screening of movies, but the "ritual" was stopped as people used to rush out of theatres immediately after the film was over.

He has claimed he had written letters to the Centre and Delhi government to make it mandatory to play national anthem before a movie starts, but has received no response till date.

PTI