The industrialist who won the right to fly a national flag

Countries & Cities · Published 15 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 1992, Naveen Jindal was told he couldn't fly India's national flag at his own factory. He sued the government and won. This landmark legal battle transformed a restricted executive instruction into a fundamental constitutional right for every citizen, forever changing how national symbols are expressed.

The conflict began in 1992 when local authorities objected to Jindal hoisting the Indian flag at his Raigarh factory, citing the Flag Code of India. The code had restricted private citizens from flying the flag except on specific occasions. Jindal contested this before the Delhi High Court, claiming that these limitations breached Article 19(1)(a), which guarantees constitutional freedom of speech. In 1995, the High Court ruled in his favor, declaring the Flag Code as a set of executive instructions rather than enforceable law.

The Union Government appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court confirmed the High Court's ruling during 2004, declaring that displaying the national flag constitutes protected expression if the Flag Code is obeyed. It is believed that Jindal’s determination throughout this litigation enabled every Indian person to fly the flag on any date. He has since advocated for January 23—the date of the ruling—to be recognized as "National Flag Day."

Beyond his legal activism, Jindal is a major figure in global industry and politics. As Chairman of Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL), he led the company through a significant crisis after the 2014 cancellation of coal blocks, which saw share prices tumble from Rs 700 to Rs 62. He orchestrated a turnaround that returned the share price to Rs 530 by March 2022. Politically, he served as an MP for the Indian National Congress from 2004 to 2014 before joining and winning a seat with the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2024.

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