Home Ministry Order on Vande Mataram is 'Constitutional Vandalism... It is Executive Overreach': Sanjay Hegde

In an interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire to discuss the recent home ministry order directing all six stanzas of Vande Mataram to be played at official functions, and that schools may start the day with community singing of the song, one of India’s most highly regarded Supreme Court lawyers, Sanjay Hegde, has called the move “constitutional vandalism dressed up in national pride”.

Hegde pointed out that there is no law that requires any Indian citizen to compulsorily sing any song and that the order regarding Vande Mataram is “executive overreach”. He also said that if challenged in court and if the court goes by the 1986 Bijoe Emmanuel judgement, which specified that there is no compulsion to sing the national anthem provided you respectfully stand whilst its played, then he fully expects the home ministry order regarding Vande Mataram to be struck down.

Watch the full interview:

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