The Madras High Court on Tuesday said the Union government’s latest notification on the sequence of state songs, the National Song and National Anthem, “does not prevent the Tamil Thai Vazhthu or the State anthem, from being sung first at government functions in Tamil Nadu,” before the National Song Vande and the National Anthem.
A bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan recorded the Centre’s clarification that a July 9 notification issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs only prescribes the sequence between Vande Mataram, the National Song and the National Anthem. It requires Vande Mataram to be sung before the National Anthem when both are rendered at the same function.
The notification, the Centre had told theHigh Court on the last hearing on August 10, does not refer to State songs and does not require the Tamil Thai Vazhthu to be sung last.
The Court reiterated the union’s submission while reserving orders on a Public Interest Litigation challenging a previous notification issued by the union government in January this year that had placed State and regional songs at the end of the sequence when it came to playing of the National Song, the National Anthem, and State or regional songs.
The petitioner, Ananya Radhakrishnan had pointed out the placement of the Tamil Thai Vazhthu after Vande Mataram and the National Anthem at the swearing-in ceremony of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on May 10 this year.
{{/usCountry}}The petitioner, Ananya Radhakrishnan had pointed out the placement of the Tamil Thai Vazhthu after Vande Mataram and the National Anthem at the swearing-in ceremony of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on May 10 this year.
{{/usCountry}}Incidentally, the Madras High Court administration too had initially issued a circular on August 11 for Independence Day celebrations, directing that Vande Mataram be sung before the hoisting of the national flag, followed by the National Anthem.
The circular did not mention the Tamil Thai Vazhthu, prompting concerns among a section of the Bar. The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court Bar Association wrote to the Registrar General on August 13, seeking clarity.
The administration subsequently issued a revised circular on August 14, stating that the Tamil Thai Vazhthu would be sung first, followed by Vande Mataram and the National Anthem. The same sequence was followed during the Independence Day celebrations on August 15.
The clarification from the Centre menawhile, had come on Radhakrishnan’s PIL.
The petitioner had argued that the Union government could not prohibit state governments from beginning official functions with their recognised State song. According to the plea, the union’s circular could only regulated the order between Vande Mataram and the National Anthem when both were sung together.
During the previous hearing on August 10, Additional Solicitor General ARL Sundaresan had told the Court that the Home Ministry had never insisted that the Tamil Thai Vazhthu be sung last.
On Tuesday, Sundaresan submitted that the July 9 notification had superseded the earlier instructions and that the petition had therefore become infructuous. The Court then reserved its verdict after recording the Centre’s clarification.