Conscientious Objectors Can't Be Punished for Not Singing Vande Mataram in Entirety: SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court said on Tuesday (September 22) that "conscientious objectors" should not be subjected to criminal punishment for refusing to sing one or more stanzas of 'Vande Mataram'.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana was hearing a writ petition challenging the constitutional validity of the 2026 amendment to the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, which extends penal protection to the national song, Vande Mataram, as well as the Ministry of Home Affairs’ directions mandating the singing of the full six stanzas of the song at official functions.

The petition has been filed by Carnatic vocalist T.M. Krishna.

“What is the National Song is not in dispute… It is for the democratically-elected state to decide and give aspiration as to what the National Song is, whether it should be two stanzas or four stanzas. But nobody can infract Article 25 and 26 [religious freedom] or subject a conscientious objector to penal consequences… It is for the conscientious objector to recite one or all stanzas of the National Song without subjecting himself to criminal prosecution,” said Justice Bagchi, according to The Hindu.

Justice Bagchi cited the 1986 Supreme Court precedent in the Bijoe Emmanuel versus State of Kerala.

According to the 2026 amendment, which substituted Section 3 of the 1971 Act, a person who intentionally prevents the singing of the National Anthem or National Song, or causes “disturbance” to an assembly engaged in such singing, can face imprisonment of up to three years, or fine, or both. It also mandates that where Vande Mataram and Jana Gana Mana are both sung or played, the national song is to precede the national anthem.

Krishna, in his petition, argued that the home ministry’s January 28 and July 9 orders, when read with the amended provision, go beyond merely prescribing protocol for national functions and prescribe the complete six-stanza version as the “official version”, thus providing for its mass singing at specified governmental, ceremonial and cultural occasions.

He also noted that Vande Mataram was never formally adopted by the Constituent Assembly as the “National Song”, is not mentioned in Article 51A(a), and was not included within the statutory protection under the 1971 Act for more than five decades.

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