Up to 3 years jail for disrupting ‘Vande Mataram’ as Rajya Sabha passes Bill

NEW DELHI, JUL 29 (PTI): The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed a bill to criminalise the intentional disruption or prevention of the singing of the national song ‘Vande Mataram’, extending to it the same legal protection currently available to the national anthem.
The Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, introduced by Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, amends the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.
It provides for imprisonment of up to three years, a fine, or both for anyone found guilty of intentionally preventing the singing of the national song or causing a disturbance to any assembly engaged in singing it.
The existing law already prescribes similar punishment for intentionally preventing or disrupting the singing of the national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’, but did not extend the same protection to ‘Vande Mataram’.
The bill states that there is no specific legal provision to prevent insults to the singing of the national song.
It proposes amending Section 3 of the Act to include ‘Vande Mataram’ within its ambit, making such acts punishable.
It also recalls that on January 24, 1950, the President of the Constituent Assembly, Dr Rajendra Prasad, declared that ‘Vande Mataram’, composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and which played a historic role in India’s freedom struggle, should be honoured equally with the national anthem and enjoy equal status.
Earlier this year, the Union Home Ministry issued the first protocol for the singing of the national song.
In an order dated January 28, it directed that all six stanzas of ‘Vande Mataram’, lasting 3 minutes and 10 seconds, be sung at official functions such as the arrival of the President, unfurling of the national flag and governors’ speeches.
The order further stated that when the national song and the national anthem are sung or played together, ‘Vande Mataram’ must precede the national anthem. It also directed that all persons present should stand at attention during its rendition.
Among other directives, the Home Ministry said the day’s work in all schools should begin with the community singing of the national song.