Another petition has been filed before the Supreme Court challenging the Centre’s directions mandating the singing or playing of the six-stanza version of Vande Mataram at specified official and ceremonial occasions.
The petition has been filed by Balakrishnan Sathyabhama Mavoji, a former IAS officer and former Chairman of the Kerala State Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission, through Advocate-on-Record Vaibhav Choudhary. It challenges the Ministry of Home Affairs’ orders dated January 28 and July 9, 2026, prescribing the official version of the National Song.
The development comes after the Supreme Court issued notice on a separate petition filed by vocalist and writer T.M. Krishna, challenging the requirement to sing all six stanzas of Vande Mataram and the penal consequences introduced for certain conduct relating to the National Song.
The petitioner contends that the impugned orders unlawfully replace the two-stanza version traditionally sung with the six-stanza composition drawn from Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel Anandamath. It is argued that the directions violate constitutional principles of secularism, freedom of conscience and religious freedom.
According to the petition, the six-stanza version contains invocations to Hindu goddesses, and compelling individuals to sing or play the composition infringes fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 19, 21 and 25 of the Constitution.
The petitioner has also questioned the Centre’s authority to alter the established version of the National Song through executive orders, contending that the directions exceed the government’s powers and infringe constitutionally protected freedoms.
The plea seeks the quashing of the Ministry of Home Affairs’ orders and a direction restraining the Centre from compelling individuals to sing or play the six-stanza version of Vande Mataram at the specified occasions.
The petition raises questions concerning the limits of executive authority in prescribing the rendition of the National Song and the need to balance national observances with the constitutional guarantees of religious freedom and individual conscience.
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