Amitava Roy (born 1 March 1953[citation needed]) is the retired judge of the Supreme Court of India and former Chief Justice of the Odisha High Court[1] and Rajasthan High Court. He is also a puisne judge of the Gauhati High Court.[2][3][4]

Amitava Roy
Judge of the Supreme Court of India
In office
27 February 2015 – 1 March 2018
27th Chief Justice of Odisha High Court
In office
6 August 2014 – 27 February 2015
Preceded byAdarsh Kumar Goel
Succeeded byDhirendra Hiralal Waghela
Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court
In office
2 January 2013 – 5 August 2014
Preceded byArun Kumar Mishra
Personal details
Born
Amitava Roy

(1953-03-01) 1 March 1953 (age 71)
Dibrugarh, Assam, India
Alma materDibrugarh University, Dibrugarh

Elevation

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Elevated as the Judge of the High Court on 4 February 2002. He was administered the oath of office of the Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court on 2 January 2013 by Margaret Alva The Governor of Rajasthan. Took oath as Supreme Court Judge, in February 2015.

Notable Judgements

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National Anthem

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A judgement of a two judge bench of the Supreme Court of India, which included Roy and Dipak Misra, made it compulsory for cinema halls across India to play the National Anthem of India before the screening of any film, and mandated that the audience stand while the National Anthem was played. The verdict has been widely criticized for being an assault on civil liberties and individual rights in India.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][a] It was pointed out that the ruling contravened an earlier judgement of the Indian Supreme Court in which children in India claiming religious allegiance to Jehovah's Witnesses were permitted to refrain from singing the National Anthem during school assemblies in accordance with their religious rights.[8][10][14][17]

Following this order, Indian police has started arresting moviegoers who fail to stand when the National Anthem is played in cinema halls in India.[18][19][20][21][22][23][24] It has been clarified that foreigners in India are not exempt from the new law.[24]

Notes

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  1. ^ A report in The New York Times stated that:

    [The] ruling inspired sardonic commentary on social media. One person on Twitter recommended that pirated internet torrents should now come with a “national anthem file attached,” and another wrote that food vendors in cinemas should exclaim “Bharat Mata ki jai,” or “Hail Mother India,” when serving popcorn.[16]

References

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  1. ^ "Website Orissa High Court". Archived from the original on 25 May 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  2. ^ Website High Court
  3. ^ Assam Gov Website Archived 14 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Website NEF Law College Archived 15 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "The National Anthem and the Supreme Court's Popcorn Nationalism". The Wire. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  6. ^ "SC's National Anthem Order Offends Principles It Wants To Uphold". The Quint. 3 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  7. ^ "WHY ARE INDIA JUDGES WASTING TIME ON THE NATIONAL ANTHEM?". Newsweek. 4 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  8. ^ a b "National anthem in cinema halls: Supreme Court may have gone way too far this time". Hindustan Times. 4 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  9. ^ "STRANGE VERDICT THAT MUST BE REVERSED". The Pioneer. 3 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  10. ^ a b "Activism going haywire, SC order on anthem should not be confirmed: Soli Sorabjee". Indian Express. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  11. ^ "Unconstitutional patriotism: Order on national anthem shows what is wrong with the Court". Indian Express. 3 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  12. ^ "SC order on national anthem in cinema halls mirrors aggressive hyper-nationalism". Hindustan Times. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  13. ^ "Supreme Court's National Anthem order mocks judicial process, Constitution". Firstpost. 1 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  14. ^ a b "Jana Gana Mana and the Danger of Passing Sentiment as Law". The Wire. 1 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  15. ^ "SC's National Anthem order: The seven commandments of 'constitutional patriotism'". Firstpost. 1 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  16. ^ "Indian Cinemas Must Play the National Anthem, Supreme Court Rules". The New York Times. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  17. ^ "Judicial authoritarianism: Supreme Court's order on national anthem dilutes constitutional freedoms and must be reviewed". The Times of India. 5 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  18. ^ "Indian Police Arrest 12 Moviegoers Accused of Sitting During Anthem". The New York Times. 12 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  19. ^ "In India, 19 moviegoers arrested for failing to stand when national anthem played before film". Los Angeles Times. 14 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  20. ^ "National anthem: 12 detained in Kerala, 8 beaten in Tamil Nadu". Indian Express. 13 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  21. ^ "6 detained for not standing up during national anthem at Kerala film festival". Hindustan Times. 12 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  22. ^ "Filmgoers arrested for refusing to stand for India's national anthem". The Guardian. 13 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  23. ^ "Indian filmgoers arrested for refusing to stand during national anthem". The Independent. 14 December 2016. Archived from the original on 15 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  24. ^ a b "This is what happens when people in India refuse to stand for their national anthem". The Washington Post. 14 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
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