Jehovah’s Witness To Approach SC For Right To NOT Stand During National Anthem
Will the sect, which sought to retain the right to not sing the national anthem in schools, have its way again – this time to ‘shield’ their right to not stand up in reverence when the anthem is played in movie theatres?
Jehovah’s Witness, which maintains that singing the national anthem or standing up in reverence when it is played, is an act against the principles of its religious beliefs, may resurface next month to challenge the Supreme Court’s order on 30 November 2016 that made it mandatory for all present in a cinema hall “to stand up to show respect to the national anthem” as part of their “sacred obligation”.
The sect may draw its hopes from a 1986 case when the Supreme Court bench ruled in favour of a Jehovah’s Witness family which cited religious reasons for refraining from singing the anthem in schools. On August 11, 1986, the Supreme Court had allowed the plea of Emmanuel, a college professor in Kerala, who belonged to the Jehovah’s Witness sect. He had held that forcing the children to sing the national anthem at school violated their fundamental right to religion.
When the court restarts hearing petitions on its order on February 14, it is believed representatives of Jehovah’s Witness, including a US-based general counsel, are preparing to contest the order with a detailed application to be filed shortly. The sect seeks to convince the court that while it respects the national anthem and the flag, its religious beliefs prevent members from standing up for or singing the anthem.
Former Union law minister and senior advocate Kapil Sibal has confirmed that he has been approached by representatives of the sect in this regard.
While saying, “These are issues of significant Constitutional importance”, Sibal said: …Their stand is that this doesn’t mean they will ever do anything to disrespect any country’s flag or anthem.”
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