Cutting cake depicting national flag not unpatriotic, rules HC
Observing that symbolisation of national pride is not synonymous with patriotism, the Madras High Court on Monday dismissed a Magistrate’s direction to Coimbatore police to register an FIR against those who had cut a cake with the Indian national flag and Ashok Chakra on it and distributed it to 2,500 children during a Christmas function attended by the district Collector at Coimbatore in 2013.
Justice N Anand Venkatesh, before whom a plea came in this regard, said, “A patriot is not one who only raises the flag, symbolises his national pride and wears it on his sleeve, but also a person who bats for good governance. The symbolisation of national pride is not synonymous with patriotism, just like how cutting a cake is not unpatriotic.”
Reiterating that patriotism is not determined by a gross physical act, the court cited a hypothetical case of how a flag provided to participants in an Independence Day or “Republic Day celebration does not continue to be in their possession and becomes waste paper. Wondering as to will this mean that each of the participants has insulted the national flag and should be proceeded against under Section 2 of Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, Justice Anand Venkatesh said, “The obvious answer is in the negative. If people are allowed to give such broad meaning to the word ‘insult’, many will become very uncomfortable and hesitant to handle the national flag.” Based on this, Justice Venkatesh held, “The court ventured to give such an extreme illustration only to drive home the point that a wayfarer, for the mere sake of publicity, should not be allowed to expose people to criminal prosecution for some innocuous acts, which by themselves cannot be construed to be an insult to make it an offence under Section 2 of the Act.”
He also noted that the flag code does provide a mechanism to destroy flags in private, in a manner consistent with the dignity of the flag, and as a responsible citizen, it should be followed in letter and spirit. Not all will be aware of this procedure. Therefore, that by itself will not make them susceptible to committing an offence under Section 2 of the Act.
Justice Anand Venkatesh on dismissing the plea, held that the complainant does not make out an offence under Section 2 of the Act and also held that the Magistrate is patently illegal in reverting to pre-cognisance stage after taking cognisance of the complaint and proceeded under Cr.P.C.
