SC declines plea against advisory on playing Vande Mataram

Parmod KumarNew Delhi, March 25 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a plea challenging the Central government's guidelines on playing the national song Vande Mataram at government and public functions, observing that the advisory neither imposes any penalty nor makes singing mandatory.

A Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi termed the petition premature, noting that the guidelines were only recommendatory in nature. The Court indicated that it would examine such issues only if there were penal consequences or if compliance was made compulsory.

During the hearing, the Bench repeatedly emphasised that the advisory did not compel individuals or institutions to play or si...