The Karnataka High Court has dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) advisory that suggested singing all six stanzas of 'Vande Mataram' in schools. The Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakru and Justice C.M. Poonacha, emphasized that the MHA protocol—titled 'Orders Relating to the National Song of India'—is discretionary rather than mandatory, as evidenced by the use of the term 'may'. The court noted that unlike the National Anthem, the National Song is not governed by a specific statutory framework (such as the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971). The petitioner, a lawyer, argued that the inclusion of later stanzas invoking Hindu deities violated the 'secular basic structure' of the Constitution. However, the court ruled that since there are no penal consequences for non-compliance and the advisory is not a mandate, the petitioner's concerns regarding social discrimination or constitutional violation were unsubstantiated.
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