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.
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 circular did not mention the Tamil Thai Vazhthu, prompting concerns among a section of the Bar. The Court then reserved its verdict after recording the Centre’s clarification.
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. 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 Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court Bar Association wrote to the Registrar General on August 13, seeking clarity. 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On Tuesday, Sundaresan submitted that the July 9 notification had superseded the earlier instructions and that the petition had therefore become infructuous.
