Union Minister Prahlad Patel on Friday pointed out that the national flag displayed behind Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during his press conference on COVID-19 was not in accordance with the rules and criticised Kejriwal for disrespecting the national flag. The union minister said the green stripes of flags displayed behind Kejriwal were enlarged, which
Union Minister Prahlad Patel on Friday pointed out that the national flag displayed behind Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during his press conference on COVID-19 was not in accordance with the rules and criticised Kejriwal for disrespecting the national flag. The union minister said the green stripes of flags displayed behind Kejriwal were enlarged, which was against the dignity and Constitutional form of the flag.
Patel appealed to the Delhi chief minister to maintain the decorum and also wrote to the Centre and Lieutenant Governor to seek immediate correction.
“Whenever Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal addresses a televised briefing, my attention is often drawn to the national flag behind his chair… it is in violation of the Constitution. The national flag has been used for the purpose of decoration,” the Culture and Tourism Minister said in his letter to LG Anil Baijal.
Highlighting the distortion, Patel said, “The middle (the white stripe) seems to get cut by the green stripe. This is not in accordance with Home Ministry rules on depiction of the national flag. I want to bring this to the attention of the respected Chief Minister, who has ignored this – either consciously or subconsciously.”
Patel also sought to draw the chief minister’s attention towards section 2(ix) of The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, which states that the flag should not be used to decorate a speaker’s stage.
Section 2.2(1) states that the status of the flag should be respectful, he added. “Being a resident of India and holding the post of the proud chief minister of a state, everyone expects you to maintain the honour and the dignity of the Tricolour, a symbol of national pride,” Patel wrote in the letter.
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