The Supreme Court has upheld a 2010 High Court verdict that declared the use of national anthem as ringtone for mobile phones illegal.
A three-member Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha yesterday passed the order after dismissing two separate pleas filed by Banglalink and Grameenphone challenging the High Court verdict.
In 2006, Kalipada Mridha, an advocate, filed a writ petition with the High Court, saying the use of national anthem should be restricted to uphold its sanctity.
He said the National Anthem Act 1978 had detailed instructions about when, where and how the national anthem could be played.
The lawyer also said in his petition the use of national anthem as ringtone was violating the law and any commercial use of it went against fundamental rights and interests of the people.
Later in 2010, a High Court bench declared using the national anthem as ringtone and welcome tune in mobile phones illegal. It also instructed Grameenphone and Banglalink to donate Tk50 lakh each to the Liver Foundation and the National Institute of Kidney Research respectively.
The two mobile phone operators then filed separate pleas against the court verdict but the apex court yesterday dismissed those and also reduced the amount of donations to Tk30 lakh for both companies.
Masud Ahmed Sayeed, who represented Kalipada in the court yesterday, told reporters the operators have to donate the new amount set by the court within 30 days after the release of the full verdict.
“The operators have already stopped providing the national anthem as a ringtone content to the subscribers after the High Court verdict was pronounced,” he said.
