Parliament clears Vande Mataram Bill; national song gets same legal protection as anthem

Parliament has passed the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, with the Lok Sabha clearing it after the Rajya Sabha passed it on July 29. The Bill now goes to the President for assent before taking effect as law.

The legislation amends the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, which currently penalises intentional disrespect to the National Flag, the Constitution, and the National Anthem ('Jana Gana Mana') with up to three years' imprisonment, a fine, or both, and a minimum one-year term for repeat offenders.

Also read: Rajya Sabha passes Vande Mataram Bill, Opposition walks out demanding Amit Shah statement on pellet gun issue


The amendment extends this same statutory protection to the National Song, 'Vande Mataram', for the first time, making deliberate insult to it or intentional disruption of its singing a criminal offence.

The Bill's passage falls during the 150th anniversary year of Vande Mataram, composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and later included in his novel Anandamath. It follows a Home Ministry order in January directing that all six stanzas of the song be sung first whenever played alongside the National Anthem at official functions.

Piloting the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai framed it as a matter of "India's soul" and cultural legacy, tracing the song's history through Nehru's 1937 restriction to two stanzas, Subhas Chandra Bose's restoration of the full version in 1938, Sardar Patel's 1947 Independence Day broadcast order, and Rajendra Prasad's 1950 statement equating its standing with the Anthem.

He used this history to accuse the Congress of "appeasement politics" and of "encouraging forces which want to break the country into pieces."

Also read: Vande Mataram bill introduced in Rajya Sabha: What the proposed law seeks to change

The debate unfolded against a backdrop of Opposition anger over the alleged use of pellet guns on NEET paper-leak protesters, with TMC's Derek O'Brien and DMK's T Siva demanding Home Minister Amit Shah's presence in the House before the Bill was taken up. Both leaders handed their rule books to Deputy Chairperson Harivansh in protest before walking out along with the Congress.

The Bill was passed by voice vote with mostly NDA members participating in the discussion, including RMD Agarwal (BJP), M Thambidurai (AIADMK), Sanjay Jha (RJD), Sanjay Singh (AAP), and Shiv Sena's Sulata Deo and Jyoti Waghmare.