Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act (Amendment) 2026 becomes a law; President gives assent

The Bill to protect national songs besides Jana Gana Mana formally received the assent of President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday. The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Amendment Bill, 2026, has now become law. The Bill criminalizes the intentional disruption or prevention of the singing of the national song, Vande Mataram, giving it the same legal protection currently accorded to the National Anthem.

The Bill was passed by Parliament during the Monsoon Session.

For the first time in history, Vande Mataram will now be sung from the ramparts of the Red Fort at the Independence Day function, the Union Ministry said.

Previously, the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act prohibited intentional insults to the National Anthem or causing disturbances to any assembly gathered for its singing. Three years of imprisonment, a fine, or both were prescribed as punitive measures.

“Presently, there is no specific legal provision to prevent insults to the singing of ‘Vande Mataram’, which is honoured as the national song. Therefore, in order to prohibit any person from intentionally preventing the singing of the national song or causing disturbance to any assembly engaged in such singing, it is proposed to amend Section 3 of the said Act to include the national song also within its ambit, so as to make such acts punishable,” the Bill had said.

Earlier this year, the Union Home Ministry directed that all six stanzas of ‘Vande Mataram’ shall be sung first when the national song and the National Anthem are played together.

In an order dated January 28, the Home Ministry issued the first set of protocols for singing the national song, directing that its six stanzas, with a duration of 3 minutes and 10 seconds, shall be sung at official functions such as the arrival of the President, the unfurling of the national flag, and speeches by Governors.