Supreme Court Issues Notice on Ex-IAS Officer's Challenge To MHA Order Prescribing Six-Stanza Vande Mataram

The Supreme Court today has issued notice on retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer's plea challenging two orders of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs that, according to him, have replaced the two-stanza 'Vande Mataram' sung at State functions since Independence with the full six-stanza song from Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's 1881 novel Anandamath, as the official version of the National Song. https://lawbeat.in/top-stories/six-stanza-vande-mataram-challenged-in-supreme-court-ex-ias-officer-says-mha-orders-turn-secular-republic-into-theocracy-1644831

A CJI Surya Kant led bench has also issued notice on a transfer petition filed by Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay to transfer his case from the Delhi High court to the Supreme Court on similar issue.

The writ petition under Article 32 has been filed by Balakrishnan Sathyabhama Mavoji, who retired as Secretary to the Government of Kerala and thereafter served two terms as Chairman of the Kerala State Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission with the official status of Chief Secretary. He is presently Chairman of the Anupathika Prathinidhya Prakshobha Samithi, an organisation working for the upliftment of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The petition impugns the orders dated January 28, 2026 and July 9, 2026, both titled "Orders relating to singing or playing of the National Song and the National Anthem of India" and issued to the Chief Secretaries and Administrators of all States and Union Territories. Its central contention is stated in the Synopsis: "By imposing sectarian prayer to particular Goddesses of one particular religion as the National Song of India, the Impugned Orders convert the character of the polity of India from a 'secular republic' to a 'theocracy'."

The petition has been drawn by Advocates Dr. G. Mohan Gopal, Mayank Singh Rawat and Zaid Ahmed, with AoR Vaibhav Choudhary. The petitioner draws a sharp distinction between two compositions. The first is the two-stanza 'Vande Mataram', which, according to the petition, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee wrote in the early 1870s, before Anandamath. The petition describes it as a "non-theistic song" that "lauds the natural beauty of mother earth describing the nation as a landscape and pays tribute to a non-deified motherland."

The second is the six-stanza song as it appears in Anandamath, in which, the petition says, the two original stanzas were incorporated and four new stanzas added. The petitioner's case is that the plot of the novel "totally changes the entire character of the imported two-stanzas of the Pre-Anandamath 'Vande Mataram' from being a paean to mother earth to a prayer to mother Goddess as a theistic nation."

According to the petition, this two-stanza practice continued unbroken after Independence: "For 79 years from independence until the issuance of the Impugned Orders in 2026, Union and State Governments as well as other institutions and groups had peaceably played and sung a two-stanza song referred to as 'Vande Mataram'."

The petition reproduces Sri Aurobindo's translation of stanzas 3 to 5, including the lines "Thou art Durga…With her hands that strike and her swords of sheen; Thou art Lakshmi lotus-throned, and the Muse a hundred-toned", to support its contention that the later stanzas constitute worship of the Goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. It goes further and characterises the six-stanza composition, in the context of the novel, as a "Religious War Song" directed against Muslims, a reading that will be for the Court to examine.

The petition also draws attention to the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Act, 2026, dated August 6, 2026, which, it says, for the first time extends statutory protection to the National Song and makes it an offence, "punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both, to intentionally prevent the singing of the 'National Song'; or cause disturbance to any assembly engaged in such singing."

Reliefs Sought

By way of relief, the petitioner primarily seeks a writ of certiorari quashing the impugned orders, bearing No. 14/02/2025-Public and dated January 28, 2026 and July 9, 2026, "in its entirety, as being ultra vires, unconstitutional and void".

In the alternative, he seeks a writ of mandamus restraining the Ministry and all persons acting under its authority from compelling, requiring or mandating the playing or singing of the six-stanza song "at any State, ceremonial, governmental or educational occasion", and from treating "any refusal to sing, or any respectful non-participation in, such version as an offence or as disrespect to the National Song".

The petitioner further prays for a direction that "the two-stanza, stand-alone version of 'Vande Mataram' alone be recognized, treated and performed and sung as the National Song". He also seeks a declaration that the singing or playing of the National Song "cannot be made compulsory or mandatory upon any citizen, institution, school or authority", and that no citizen "may be compelled, penalised, prosecuted or subjected to any adverse civil, criminal or administrative action for abstaining from singing or playing the National Song".

Case Title: Balakrisgnan Sathyabhama Mavoji v. Union of India and Another

Bench: CJI Kant, Justice Bagchi and Justice Mohana

Hearing Date: Oct 27, 2026