RAIPUR, OCTOBER 21: The fight for the right to hoist the national flag has, like the wheel in the middle, has come a full circle.

Jindal Power, the flagship company of the group owned by Naveen Jindal, who had successfully fought for the common man’s right to hoist the Tricolour, has been booked by the Chhattisgarh Police for showing disrespect to the flag.

Raigarh’s Additional SP, Lal Ummed Singh, told The Indian Express that the management of Jindal Power had been booked under Section 2 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act (1971). “The flag on the plant building had reportedly not been taken down at sunset, as stipulated in the Flag Code of India,” he said.

A police officer said the flag hoisted at the Tamnar plant of Jindal Power in Raigarh was not taken off the pole till late in the night. “The police were informed by some residents and a team was rushed to remove the flag. A case was also filed against The Jindal Power management,” the official stated.

Any disrespect to the tricolour can attract a jail term of up to three years and a fine, he said.

Company spokesman D P Sarawagi admitted that a case has been registered against the company. “The person who was given the job of unfurling and taking down the flag was sent on some other duty. But he forgot to hand over the job to someone else which led to this incident,” he said.

The employee has been suspended, Sarawagi said.

Naveen Jindal had filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court in 1995 requesting that all Indians and institutions be allowed to fly the flag in a respectful manner. And after a prolonged court battle, a 2004 Supreme Court judgment held the right to fly the national flag freely, with respect and dignity, as a fundamental right of each citizen.