Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 is an Act of the
Parliament of India The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the ...
which prohibits the desecration of or insult to the country's
national symbol A national symbol is a symbol of any entity considering and manifesting itself to the world as a national community: the sovereign states but also nations and countries in a state of colonial or other dependence, federal integration, or even an e ...
s, including the national flag,
national emblem A national emblem is an emblem or seal that is reserved for use by a nation state or multi-national state as a symbol of that nation. Many nations have a seal or emblem in addition to a national flag A national flag is a flag that represents ...
,
national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...
, the
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...
, and map of India including contempt of Indian constitution.


Relevance

This act is widely applied in all cases where a case of insult to National Honour, through disrespect to National Symbols, is reported, public or not, as well as intentional or otherwise.


National flag and constitution

Whoever in any public place or in any other place within public view burns, mutilates, defaces, defiles, disfigures, destroys, tramples upon or otherwise shows disrespect to or brings into contempt (whether by words, either spoken or written, or by acts) the
Indian National Flag The national flag of India, colloquially called the tricolour, is a horizontal rectangular tricolour flag of India saffron, white and India green; with the ', a 24-spoke wheel, in navy blue at its centre. It was adopted in its present form ...
or the Constitution of India or any part thereof, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.
Explanation 1 – Comments expressing disapprobation or criticism of the Constitution or of the Indian National Flag or of any measures of the Government with a view to obtain an amendment of the
Constitution of India The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ...
or an alteration of the Indian National Flag by lawful means do not constitute an offence under this section. Explanation 2 – The expression, "Indian National Flag" includes any picture, painting, drawing or photograph, or other visible representation of the Indian National Flag, or of any part or parts thereof, made of any substance or represented on any substance or digital picture Explanation 3 – The expression "Dishonour Indian Map" means if anywhere map represented with respective manner,Tapping Map on Road or any public place. Explanation 4 – The expression "public place" means any place intended for use by, or accessible to, the public and includes any public conveyance. Explanation 5 - The disrespect to the Indian National flag means and includes — (a) a gross affront or indignity offered to the Indian National Flag; or (b) dipping the Indian National Flag in salute to any person or thing; or (c) using the Indian National Flag:- : (i) as a portion of costume, uniform or accessory of any description which is worn below the waist of any person; or : (ii) by embroidering or printing it on cushions, handkerchiefs, napkins,undergarments or any dress material; or (f) putting any kind of inscription upon the Indian National Flag; or (g) using the Indian National Flag as a receptacle for receiving, delivering or carrying anything except flower petals before the Indian National Flag is unfurled as part of celebrations on special occasions including the
Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially cal ...
or the Independence Day; or (h) using the Indian National Flag as covering for a statue or a monument or a speaker’s desk or a speaker’s platform; or (i) allowing the Indian National Flag to touch the ground or the floor or trail in water intentionally; or (j) draping the Indian National Flag over the hood, top, and sides or back or on a vehicle, train, boat or an aircraft or any other similar object; or (k) using the Indian National Flag as a covering for a building; or (l) intentionally displaying the Indian National Flag with the "saffron" down.


National anthem

As provided in Section 3 of the Act, whoever intentionally prevents the singing of the
Jana Gana Mana "" (Sanskrit: जन गण मन) is the national anthem of the Republic of India. It was originally composed as '' Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata'' in Bengali by polymath Rabindranath Tagore. The first stanza of the song ''Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata' ...
or causes disturbances to any assembly engaged in such singing shall be punished with imprisonment for a term, which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.


Penalty and conviction

As Such the Law recognises all the above cases, as grouped under Section (a)National Flag and Constitution (b)National Anthem, as offences and convicts the Penalties or sentences as follows.Whoever having already been convicted of an offence under section 2 or section 3 is again convicted of any such offence shall be punishable for the second and for every subsequent offence, with imprisonment for a term, which shall not be less than one year.


History

The earliest version of the law was passed by the state
legislature of Tamil Nadu The Tamil Nadu Legislature is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Legislature is composed of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and the Governor of Tamil Nadu Until 1 November 1986, the Tamil Nadu Legislature was a b ...
(then Madras State) in 1957 as a response to
Dravidar Kazhagam Dravidar Kazhagam is a social movement founded by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, also called Thanthai Periyar. Its original goals were to eradicate the ills of the existing caste system including untouchability and on a grander scale to obtain a " ...
(DK) and
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; DMK) is a political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu where it is currently the ruling party having a comfortable majority without coalition support and the union territory of Puducherry where it is curre ...
(DMK), prominent
south Indian South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...
parties that opposed the caste system and the use of
Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
as the
official language An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...
. By 1 December 1957, over 2,000 DK members had been arrested under the law, and on 14 December, DK founder
E. V. Ramasami Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), revered as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the 'F ...
was arrested under the law and sentenced to six months' imprisonment. The national legislature passed a version of the law in 1971. Significant amendments were added in 2003 and 2005, which prohibited many previously common uses of the flag, such as draping it over a podium during a speech, using it as decoration, or incorporating it into clothing designs. Part IVA of the constitution stipulates fundamental duties of Indian citizens which includes to abide by the constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem. This Act stipulates the punishment to be awarded for violating Article 51Aa of the constitution. The
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
, the
Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
, the
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
, the
Speaker of the Lok Sabha The speaker of the Lok Sabha ( IAST: ) is the presiding officer and the highest official of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India. The speaker is elected generally in the first meeting of the Lok Sabha following general e ...
, and other government officials are liable for disqualification upon committing any violation of the constitution under this Act read with sections 7 and 8(k) of
Representation of the People Act, 1951 The Representation of the People Act, 1951 is an act of Parliament of India to provide for the conduct of election of the Houses of Parliament and to the House or Houses of the Legislature of each State, the qualifications and disqualification ...
. When courts quash the unconstitutional deeds or actions of the
executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...
(that is, convicted without punishment under this Act), it is nothing but written acts/actions/deeds within public view bringing into contempt of the
Constitution of India The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ...
or any part thereof.


See also

*
Flag desecration Flag desecration is the desecration of a flag, violation of flag protocol, or various acts that intentionally destroy, damage, or mutilate a flag in public. In the case of a national flag, such action is often intended to make a political poin ...


References

{{Reflist Acts of the Parliament of India 1971 Flags of India 1971 in law 2003 in law National symbols of India