"He has already expressed regrets for the incident. We will not entertain it," said a Bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, Justice C K Thakkar and Justice R V Raveendran while scrapping the plea.
Narayana Murthy was accused of insulting the national anthem by playing its instrumental version, instead of having it sung, at a function organised by his firm in Mysore last year. The function was attended by then president A P J Abdul Kalam.
According to the petition filed by the Kannada Rakshana Vakeelara Vedeke, Murthy insulted the national anthem by dispensing with the official protocol of its oral recital.
Counsel C M Angadi, appearing for the petitioner, told the court that the function was organised April 8, 2007 for the inauguration of Infosys' Corporate Education Centre.
Angadi said that after Kalam agreed to inaugurate the centre, the Mysore deputy commissioner apprised Murthy of the mandatory official protocol of oral recital of the national anthem at the start and the end of any function attended by the president.
Murthy was told to ensure that the protocol was duly followed. But instead of the oral recital of the national anthem, the function began and ended with its instrumental version, Angadi said.
The court did not buy Angadi's argument that the incident resulted in disrespect to the national anthem.
