Delhi High Court seeks Central government's response in PIL to elevate 'Vande Mataram' to status of 'Jana-Gana-Mana'

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the response of the Central government in a public interest litigation (PIL) petition praying that the national song Vande Mataram be given the same status as the national anthem Jana Gana Mana [Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay vs Union of India and ors]..A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Sachin Datta, however, expressed their displeasure at the fact that the petition was shared with the media before it came up for hearing."At the outset we have expressed our displeasure to Mr Upadhyay about his publicising the fact of filing the present petition. When a petitioner does anything of this kind, the impression court gets is that it is merely a publicity stunt that the petitioner wishes to engage in. We have therefore directed Mr Upadhyay to not engage in such act. He has expressed his regret. However, since Mr Upadhyay files the petition in public interest, we are entertaining the writ petition." The High Court in its order then proceeded to issue notice to the Central and Delhi governments, as well as the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) that is responsible for public-school textbooks. .The present PIL, filed by BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, seeks equal status for national song ‘Vande Mataram’ with the national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’.The plea argues that the song ‘Vande Mataram’ played a historic part in India’s freedom struggle and should be honoured and granted status equal to the national anthem.He has said that giving equal status to 'Vande Mataram' would be in the spirit of the statement made by Constituent Assembly President Dr Rajendra Prasad.The plea demanded that Central and State governments should ensure that both the national anthem and ‘Vande Mataram’ is played and sung in all schools and educational institutions on every working day.Upadhyay has argued that the sentiments expressed in ‘Jana Gana Mana’ have been expressed keeping the State in view. However, sentiments expressed in ‘Vande Mataram’ denote the nation’s character and style and therefore deserve similar respect.He added that ‘Vande Mataram’ is the symbol of India’s history, sovereignty, unity and pride and if any citizen by any cover or overt act shows disrespect to it, it would not only be anti-social activity but would also spell doom to all our rights and very existence.“Every citizen must therefore not only refrain from any such activities but also do his best to prevent any miscreant trying to show any disrespect to ‘Vandemataram’. We must be proud of our Nation, our Constitution, National Anthem and National Flag and put national interest above our personal interests and only then will we be able to protect our hard-earned freedom and sovereignty. It is the duty of the executive to frame a national policy to promote and propagate ‘Vandemataram’,” the plea reads.The first two stanzas in the poem Vande Mataram, written by Bengali writer and journalist Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, were adopted as the national song by independent India's Constituent Assembly in 1950, but there is no mention of the same in the Constitution. .In today's hearing, the Acting Chief Justice at the outset remarked,"We are getting an impression that this is a mere publicity stunt. This is not done. You shouldn't do this ... Where is the need for you to go and tell everyone? This gives impression that this is only a publicity stunt." Upadhyay replied, "It was not my intention my lords. You are already hearing many of my petitions. I will take care in future."He then submitted, " ... lordships have in a catena of judgments recognised Vande mataram as a national song. Our forefathers have said it will equal to national anthem. But there are no guidelines. It has been misused in TV serials and parties etc. Our freedom struggle was based on this song. In the first five sessions of the Indian National Congress. Our first flag had Vande mataram."[Follow our coverage of today's hearing]