President Droupadi Murmu has approved an amendment giving ‘Vande Mataram’ statutory protection, with disruption of its singing punishable by up to three years in jail
New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu has given her assent to the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, bringing ‘Vande Mataram’ under the same statutory protection as the national anthem, ‘Jana Gana Mana’.
Passed by Parliament last month, the amendment changes the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971. It now makes deliberate disruption of the singing of ‘Vande Mataram’, or obstruction of an assembly performing the national song, a punishable offence. Those found guilty can face imprisonment of up to three years, a fine, or both.
Previously, the law specifically covered offences involving the national anthem, including deliberately preventing its singing or causing disturbances during an assembly where it was being performed. The amendment extends similar protection to the national song.
The legislation highlighted the historic role of ‘Vande Mataram’, composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, in India’s freedom movement. It also cited former Constituent Assembly president Dr Rajendra Prasad’s 1950 statement that the song should be honoured equally with ‘Jana Gana Mana’ because of its contribution to the freedom struggle.
The assent comes amid new Union Home Ministry protocols for the national song. Under the guidelines, ‘Vande Mataram’ will precede ‘Jana Gana Mana’ whenever both are performed together, while schools have also been directed to begin the day with community singing of the song.
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