Fresh court case against Sania Mirza on national anthem

Sania-Mirza-Pics, originally uploaded by hinnahinna.

The ace tennis star Sania Mirza seems to be running through some troubled times just before her marriage on April 15. On April 4, PTI reported from Muzaffarnagar that a court there would take up a complaint against Sania Mirza on April 5 for allegedly insulting the Indian national anthem during a function in the town two years ago. According to the news, the local people filed four separate complaints against Sania Mirza under Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act. No, it is not some jealous people reacting to the news of her marriage, because the complaint was filed on November 8, 2008.

The report says, while the first complaint will be heard on April 5, the remaining three cases are fixed for hearing in the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Vikas Goel on April 21, April 22 and May 18. The complainants’ case is that “Sania was allegedly not standing in attention when the national anthem was being played during the closing ceremony of an international women's tennis tournament where she was the chief guest”.

Earlier she faced court case under the same act, ‘Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act’, when a complaint was filed by a person in the court in Bhopal. It could have landed her three years in jail. It was published by BBC News on 15 Jan 2008, and it was widely reported in the media, after newspapers published the controversial photograph taken during a match at the Hopman Cup in Australia. However, Sania denied showing disrespect to the Indian flag, Click here to view the photo and report.

Also Sania's announcement of marrying Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik has been criticized by Pramod Muthalik’s Sri Ram Sene and Shiv Sena but, a day after Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray’s criticism, party executive president Uddhav Thackeray said the wedding is Sania’s personal problem. Uddhav said, “A marriage between two people is entirely personal. Sania has every right to lead her life the way she wants to, we don’t want to interfere in it. Saamna has clarified its stand on Sania and the issue is over for us.”