Times of India: Bareilly: Tuesday,
April 26, 2016.
An RTI
seeking details of cases registered for insult of national flag under The
Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 from 2010 till now has
revealed that the Union ministry for home affairs (MHA) has no consolidated
record of such cases.
Bareilly-based
RTI activist and consumer affairs advocate Mohammed Khalid Jilani sought
information in March this year from MHA on cases registered for insult or
disrespect to the national flag from 2010 till date. He also asked the ministry
to provide details about punishment given to persons against who such charges
were proved.
In response
to his queries, the ministry stated, "The complaint regarding disrespect
or insult to the national flag by an individual or organisation can be made at
the nearest police station. Police authorities are responsible for taking
action under the law for violation of the provisions contained in the said act.
No consolidated record of the cases registered for violation of The Prevention
of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 is maintained in this ministry."
Jilani said
that the ministry's response was surprising. "I am shocked that the
ministry of home affairs has no information regarding such a sensitive issue
and they never bothered to collect information on cases related to insult of
the national flag," he said.
The
ministry's reply also said that use of the national flag is regulated by the
Flag Code of India, 2002, besides the National Honour Act. The reply revealed
that the insult to the flag is a punishable offence under section 2 of the
National Honour Act. A person booked under this act can be imprisoned for a
term which may extend to three years, or be levied a fine, or both.
.JPG)
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