President Murmu Gives Assent to Bill Criminalising Insult to Vande Mataram
President Murmu Gives Assent to Bill Criminalising Insult to Vande Mataram
New Delhi, Aug 11 : President Droupadi Murmu has given her assent to a bill that criminalises 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. With the President's assent, The Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, has officially become law.
The legislation had earlier cleared both Houses of Parliament during the ongoing Monsoon Session, with the Lok Sabha passing it on July 30 and the Rajya Sabha clearing it a day earlier. The amendment brings Vande Mataram on par with the national anthem, 'Jana Gana Mana', in terms of statutory protection.
Under the existing Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, intentionally preventing the singing of the national anthem or causing disturbance to any assembly engaged in such singing is a punishable offence, carrying imprisonment of up to three years, a fine, or both, with a minimum one-year term for repeat convictions. With this amendment, the same provisions now extend to Vande Mataram as well.
Officials noted that until now, there was no specific legal provision to prevent insults to the singing of Vande Mataram, despite it being honoured as India's national song. The amendment revises Section 3 of the 1971 Act to include the national song within its scope, making acts of intentional obstruction during its rendition legally punishable.
Importantly, the amended law does not make the singing of Vande Mataram compulsory. It only criminalises deliberate acts of insult or intentional disruption during its rendition, mirroring the protection already in place for the national anthem.
The Union Government had maintained that the move was intended to formally recognise Vande Mataram's historic role in India's freedom movement by granting it legal status equal to the national anthem. The song, composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in the 1870s and first published in 1882 as part of his Bengali novel Anandmath, was accorded the status of national song by the Constituent Assembly in 1950, with then Constituent Assembly president Dr Rajendra Prasad stating it would be honoured equally with 'Jana Gana Mana'.
In a related development, the Union Home Ministry has announced that Vande Mataram will be sung from the ramparts of the Red Fort for the first time at this year's Independence Day function.
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