Karnataka: Government defends two-stanza Vande Mataram order in High Court

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Tuesday defended its decision to limit the rendition of Vande Mataram to its first two stanzas at official events, informing the High Court that singing the national song is not mandatory like the national anthem.

The government’s September 8 notification requires the first two stanzas to be sung at state functions, except when the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister or Governor is present. The order has been challenged in a PIL before the High Court.

Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty told a division bench that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) communication on Vande Mataram was only a guideline and did not make its rendition mandatory. “There is no mandate to sing the national song. From 1932 till today, only the first two stanzas are sung.”


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Shetty also argued that the amended law does not define “national song” and that the Constitution does not refer to Vande Mataram in the same manner as it does to the national anthem.

The petitioner’s counsel Angad Kamath argued that the state government could not decide the content of a national song, particularly after Parliament amended the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, to extend statutory protection to Vande Mataram.

Justices Anu Sivaraman and TP Vivekananda deferred the matter and directed that it be listed after three weeks, taking note of a similar case pending before the Supreme Court.

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to examine whether criminal consequences can apply to a person who chooses not to sing Vande Mataram on grounds of conscience or religion.

On Monday, BJP MLAs sang all six stanzas of Vande Mataram in the Karnataka Assembly after the House completed the first two, in defiance of the state government’s order.

The controversy follows the Congress Working Committee’s decision in August to limit the rendition of Vande Mataram at party programmes to its first two stanzas, citing a 1937 resolution and the historical debate over the song.