Six delegates, including a woman, have been taken into custody on Monday for not standing up when the national anthem was played before the screening of a film at the ongoing International Film Festival of Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram.
On Friday, the organiser of the film festival approached the Supreme Court seeking exemption from its previous order that made it mandatory for everyone to stand up during the national anthem before a film screening.
The organiser cited the sheer number of films being screened at the fest and said that it would cause inconvenience to the 100 odd foreign guests attending the fest. The apex court, however, did not provide relief to the festival organisers.
It is also unclear whether foreigners were among the six delegates booked by police.
Hearing the plea, a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy observed that: "Only because certain foreigners are here and they may have some problems, should we recall our order? Why should we recall our orders only to oblige foreigners? If there are 40 movies running in different shows, you will have to, well, stand 40 times."
