Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan in a scene from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.

New Delhi, April 19: The Supreme Court today said there was no need to “stand up” when the national anthem is played as part of a movie or documentary or a newsreel in cinema halls.

A division bench of Chief Justice V.N. Khare and Justices S.B. Sinha and S.H. Kapadia allowed an appeal by the producer and director of Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham challenging a Madhya Pradesh High Court order to delete the national anthem from the movie or withdraw the film from cinema halls.

Producer Yash Johar and director Karan Johar said the national anthem formed part of a film and the audience was thus not required to stand up. They, however, said no disrespect to the anthem was intended.