RS Passes Bill Extending Legal Protection to Vande Mataram
Amendment places National Song on par with National Anthem by penalising intentional disruption of its singing
- Rajya Sabha passes Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026.
- Bill extends legal protection to Vande Mataram under the 1971 Act.
- Intentional disruption or prevention of the National Song’s singing becomes punishable.
- Government says amendment fulfils Constituent Assembly’s vision of equal honour.
GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 30th July: The Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, extending the same legal protection to Vande Mataram, India’s National Song, that is currently available to the National Anthem, Jana Gana Mana.
The amendment revises Section 3 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, making it an offence to intentionally prevent the singing of Vande Mataram or cause a disturbance to an assembly engaged in singing it.
According to the government, the legislation addresses a long-standing gap in the law by providing statutory protection to the National Song in line with the vision expressed by Dr. Rajendra Prasad in the Constituent Assembly on January 24, 1950, when he said Vande Mataram should be honoured equally with Jana Gana Mana.
Under the amended law, anyone who deliberately prevents the singing of either the National Anthem or the National Song, or disrupts an assembly engaged in such singing, will be liable for punishment of up to three years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both. The penalties remain unchanged from those already applicable to offences involving the National Anthem.
The Bill also retains the enhanced punishment introduced through Section 3A of the Act in 2003, under which repeat offenders convicted for offences under Sections 2 or 3 face a minimum imprisonment of one year. The provision will now also apply to repeat offences involving disruption of the singing of Vande Mataram.
The government said the amendment recognises the historic role of Vande Mataram, composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, in India’s freedom movement. First published in 1875 and later included in the novel Anandamath, the song became a rallying cry during the Swadeshi Movement and was first sung at the Indian National Congress session in 1896 after being set to music by Rabindranath Tagore.
The amended legislation seeks to accord equal legal recognition to both the National Anthem and the National Song while preserving the existing protections for the National Flag and the Constitution of India under the 1971 Act.
