New Delhi: President Draupadi Murmu on Tuesday approved the bill that makes it a crime to intentionally obstruct or prevent the singing of the national anthem Vande Mataram. Under this law, Vande Mataram will get the same legal protection as the national anthem currently enjoys. This information was given in a statement issued by the government.
With the assent of the President, the Prevention of Insults to National Honor (Amendment) Bill, 2026 has become law. The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on July 30, while the Rajya Sabha had approved it a day earlier. Under this law, Vande Mataram has the same status as the national anthem 'Jana Gana Mana'.
The Union Home Ministry said that for the first time in the Independence Day celebrations, Vande Mataram will be sung from the ramparts of the Red Fort. Earlier, under the Prevention of Insults to National Honor Act, it was prohibited to deliberately prevent the singing of the national anthem 'Jana Gana Mana' or to disrupt any assembly engaged in such singing. There was a provision of imprisonment of up to three years, fine or both for these crimes.
At the same time, for the second and every subsequent conviction, there was a provision of a jail sentence of at least one year. However, under the old law, the national anthem Vande Mataram did not enjoy similar legal protection. The bill said, “At present, there is no specific legal provision to prevent insult to the singing of Vande Mataram which is revered as the national anthem. Therefore, in order to prohibit any person from willfully preventing the singing of the National Anthem or causing obstruction to any assembly engaged in such singing, it is proposed to amend section 3 of the said Act to include the National Anthem also within its scope, so as to make such acts punishable.''
The bill said that the Speaker of the Constituent Assembly, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, had said on January 24, 1950 that Vande Mataram, composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, which played a historic role in India's freedom struggle, would be given the same respect as the national anthem 'Jana Gana Mana' and its status would also be equal to that of the national anthem.
Earlier this year, the Union Home Ministry had directed that when the national song and national anthem are played together, all six stanzas of Vande Mataram should be sung first. The Home Ministry, in an order issued on January 28, laid down protocols for the singing of the national anthem for the first time.
It directed that six stanzas of Vande Mataram, whose duration is three minutes and 10 seconds, will be sung at official events such as the arrival of the President, unfurling of the national flag and speeches of Governors. The order said, “When both the national anthem and the national anthem are sung or played, the national anthem shall be sung or played first.” It said that all the people present in the gathering or program where the national anthem is sung shall stand at attention. The order said that the day would start with collective singing of the national song Vande Mataram in all schools.