The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking a direction to the Centre to declare “Vande Mataram” the national anthem, on par with “Jana Gana Mana”, or the national song. A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar said it finds no reason to entertain this petition while exercising its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution. “We see no reason to give direction to the respondent (Centre) to declare Vande Mataram as national anthem or national song,” the bench said. The plea, filed by BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, wanted “Vande Mataram”, written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, be given the same respect as the national anthem, “Jana Gana Mana” penned by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
