The Supreme Court has rejected the petition against the Central Government’s notification regarding singing of the national song ‘Vande Mataram’ in schools and public programs. The court described the petition as based on apprehensions. The judges said that the notification is just an advisory. The government has not made singing the national anthem mandatory. If in future anyone has to face legal action based on this notification, he can come to court.
The bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul Pancholi said, ‘Has any punishment been fixed for non-compliance of this notification? Has it happened that a person was thrown out of a program for not singing the national anthem? After this, the Supreme Court said that the Home Ministry’s notification issued on January 28 is just a ‘protocol’. Reading this it seems that citizens have been given equal freedom to sing the song or not.
Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing for petitioner Mohammad Saeed Noori, said, ‘Even if there is no legal punishment, there will be a huge social burden on the person who refuses to sing the song or stand up while it is being sung. People can be forced to sing under the guise of advisory.
Hegde said that patriotism cannot be imposed. The way the notification has been issued, it is like forcing people to publicly demonstrate their loyalty to the country. Whoever does not do this will be in trouble. Rejecting this argument, the Chief Justice said that the petition has been filed only on the basis of vague suspicion.
Hegde also raised the question that the government’s advisory talked about singing all the six verses of ‘Vande Mataram’, whereas the Constituent Assembly had passed only some of its verses as the national song. The song of 6 verses is about 3 minutes long, which is much longer than the national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’.
The judges called this discussion unnecessary. Refusing to hear the petition, he called it an ‘immature petition’ filed before time. The court said that the matter will be considered when singing the national anthem is made mandatory or any punishment is fixed for its violation.
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