Remaining seated while the Indian national anthem is being sung or played is not punishable under Indian statutory or case law or by any order of the Indian government, argues the Express in light of the recent alleged incident in a Mumbai theatre where, according to a viral video online, audience members were asked to leave because they remained seated while the anthem was being played.

Section 3 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act 1971 – the statutory law on the subject – only penalises the offence of disrupting the singing or playing of the national anthem. It does not make it mandatory to sing or play the anthem.

Government of India orders issued on 5 January 2015 make it mandatory to stand up when the anthem is being sung or played, but prescribe no punishment for not obeying this order.

The Supreme Court in 1987 ruled in favour of three students who were expelled from a school in Kerala because they were standing up but not participating in singing the national anthem when it was being played. The students had asserted that they were against singing anything other than what their Jehovian religion prescribed. The two judge SC bench had, in its order, observed: “Our tradition teaches tolerance; our philosophy preaches tolerance; our Constitution practises tolerance; let us not dilute it.”