Patanjali Civil Services Academy

Vande Mataram: Supreme Court on Conscientious Objection [Prelims Bits]

Tags: Prelims Current events of national and international importance

Source: The Hindu

Context: The Supreme Court observed that a person who respectfully refuses to sing one/all stanzas of Vande Mataram on religious/conscientious grounds should not face criminal penalties; it relied on the Bijoe Emmanuel v. State of Kerala (1986) precedent.
Constitutional provisions: The Court highlighted Articles 25 and 26 — freedom of conscience and freedom to profess, practise and propagate religion, and freedom to manage religious affairs.
Vande Mataram: Composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay; recognised as India’s National Song.
National Song vs National Anthem: Vande Mataram is the National Song, while Jana Gana Mana is the National Anthem.
Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971: Penalises specified acts involving disrespect to national symbols; Section 3 specifically deals with intentionally preventing the singing of the National Anthem or causing disturbance to an assembly engaged in it.
Key precedent — Bijoe Emmanuel case (1986): Supreme Court protected three schoolchildren who respectfully stood during the National Anthem but did not sing it due to their religious beliefs, holding that conscientious objection cannot by itself justify penal action.
Current case: Petition by Carnatic vocalist T.M. Krishna challenges provisions relating to compulsory rendition of Vande Mataram and associated penal consequences; the Supreme Court has sought the Union government's response.

Q1. Consider the following pairs:

Provision/Case	Constitutional or legal significance
1. Article 25	Freedom of conscience and freedom to profess, practise and propagate religion
2. Article 26	Freedom to manage religious affairs, subject to constitutional limitations
3. Bijoe Emmanuel v. State of Kerala	Protection against penal action for respectfully refusing to sing the National Anthem on grounds of conscience
4. Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 — Section 3	Penal provision concerning intentional prevention or disturbance relating to singing of the National Anthem

Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1, 2 and 3 only
(c) 1, 2 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Answer: (d)

Explanation:

Pair 1 is correctly matched: Article 25 protects freedom of conscience and specified religious freedoms.
Pair 2 is correctly matched: Article 26 deals with the freedom of religious denominations to manage their religious affairs, subject to the Constitution.
Pair 3 is correctly matched: Bijoe Emmanuel established an important constitutional protection for conscientious objection where the individuals remained respectful.
Pair 4 is correctly matched: Section 3 addresses intentional prevention of singing or disturbance of an assembly engaged in singing the National Anthem.