Painted by Right: The Naveen Jindal Case

From a factory mast to the Constitution

Every stroke shows in this one — a flag anyone could have painted, which is quietly the point. The right of anyone to raise the real thing was won in court, within living memory.

In the 1990s, objections to the tricolour flying over industrialist Naveen Jindal’s factory set off a long legal battle. It ended twice over: the liberalised Flag Code of 2002 opened daily flying to every citizen, and in 2004 the Supreme Court, in Union of India v. Naveen Jindal, held that flying the national flag with respect and dignity is expression protected by Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. The painted flag of this page is, in law, everyone’s to raise.