SC Keeps Vande Mataram Controvery At Bay For Now

The Slate Bureau

India’s Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a challenge to a recent Government of India circular on singing of Vande Mataram, officially declared after independence to be the National Song, at the start of the day in all schools and on occasions graced by any minister.

A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul Pancholi noted that the circular was only advisory with no punitive clause for non-compliance. “Please come to us when you are discriminated on the basis of the advisory,” Justice Bagchi said, emphasizing that the petition was based on a vague apprehension and pre-mature.

The petition had been filed by one Mohammed Sayeed Noori who questioned the circular on the ground that the song hurt the religious sentiments of his religious community.The song Vande Mataram had been the war cry of freedom fighters during the struggle for independence and it was formally declared to be the national song on January 24, 1950. With President Dr. Rajendra Prasad being authorized by the members of the Constituent Assembly to make a statement in this regard, he announced in the Assembly that Jana Gana Mana would be the national anthem and Vande Mataram would have equal status as the national song. It was the last day of the Constituent Assembly when the Constitution was signed and the session ended with the singing of Vande Mataram.

The controversy surrounding the song started on the eve of Independence itself. The first item on the agenda for the Assumption of Power ceremony in the intervening night of August 14-15, 1947 was the singing of Vande Mataram. Later, it was brought to the notice of Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the President of the Constituent Assembly, that a number of members belonging to a particular community had simultaneously entered after the singing of the song was over. Dr. Prasad did not react.

The first two stanzas continued to be sung as the national song after independence to avoid any major controversy.

The Constitution of India to begin with neither had any provision declaring the Jana Gana Mana as the National Anthem nor Vande Mataram as the National Song. The word ‘National Anthem’ first featured in the Constitution with the insertion of Article 51A(a) by the 42^nd amendment in 1976, but it was conspicuous with the absence of ‘National Song’. Article 51A(a) states that it shall be the duty of every citizen of India “to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem”.

However, the Union Home Ministry on January 28, 2026 reignited the controversy with its circular on National Song wherein it included all six stanzas with playing time of approximately 3 minutes 10 seconds. The circular listed the occasions for mass singing which included: “In all schools, the day's work may begin with community singing of the National Song. School authorities should make adequate provision in their programmes for popularising the singing of the National Song, National Anthem and promoting respect for the National Flag among students.”

The Supreme Court put the controversy at bay by pointing out that the use of the term “may” indicated that it was a mere advisory.

As far as the balance between nationalism and fundamental right to religion is concerned, India’s Supreme Court has maintained a balanced approach. In the case of Bijoe Emmannuel, the Supreme Court in 1985 upheld the right of some students not to sing the national anthem while they stood in the school assembly as their religious faith as Jehovah’s Witness prohibited them from participating in any ritual outside their religious faith.

Unlike in the present case, the Supreme Court had intervened in the Bijoe Emmannuel case as three students had been expelled from a school in Kerala for not singing the national anthem.