The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the central government and others to respond to new petitions filed against a law making it mandatory to sing all six stanzas of the national song Vande Mataram in full.
These petitions were filed by Bhimrao Duryodhan Borkar and former IAS officer Balakrishnan Sathyabama Mavoji against the amended Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, Section 3, 2026, which provides for a prison sentence of 3 years or a fine for anyone who deliberately causes disruption while the national song or national anthem is being sung, and against the Union Home Ministry order issued on January 28 and July 9, 2026.
In the petition filed by Boar, it is stated that, “The orders issued by the Union Home Ministry on January 28 and July 9 regarding the song Vande Mataram have unlawfully altered the 79-year practice of singing the two-stanza Vande Mataram song, which is not tied to any particular religion, into one of singing the full stanzas with explicit anti-Islamic lines.
Under the guise of guidelines regarding the playing and singing of the official version, it has imposed the six-stanza nationalist song containing unconstitutional idol worship and anti-Islamic content as the new national song,” he noted.
In the petition filed by Maoji, it was stated that “forcing people to sing all six stanzas of the song ‘Vande Mataram’ in full is an attempt to turn India into a divine, religious, and faith-based nation.”
These petitions came up for hearing on Tuesday before a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Jayamalya Bagchi and V. Mohana. After hearing the petitions, the judges ordered notices to be issued to the Central government and others, asking them to respond.
They also directed that these petitions be clubbed with the petitions already filed in connection with this matter, and adjourned the hearing to November 30.
Earlier, while hearing last month the petition filed against this law by Carnatic musician and writer T.M. Krishna, the Supreme Court said, “We hope that, just as the Supreme Court laid down certain guidelines in the Bijoe case in 1986, the Central government will now do the same.
The Supreme Court cannot determine which stanzas of the Vande Mataram song constitute the national song. However, the Supreme Court has the right to examine whether the rights of a person who refuses to sing Vande Mataram on grounds of conscience are protected under the law. It stated that those who feel that Articles 25 and 26 among the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution have been violated, or those who express conscientious objection, shall not be subjected to any punishment.