The People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has strongly criticised Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for remarks made in the Supreme Court today during the hearing of a petition filed by Carnatic vocalist T.M. Krishna. Krishna has challenged the amendment to the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act that extends to the "National Song" the same legal protection given to the National Anthem, as well as government circulars mandating the singing of all six stanzas of Vande Mataram, including verses with religious imagery, at official functions.
During the hearing, when Senior Advocate Dr. S. Muralidhar argued that the amendment had been passed hastily and without adequate deliberation, the Solicitor General reportedly responded that lawmaking follows the Constitution and cannot proceed according to "the Naxalites' idea." Dr. Muralidhar objected to the remark and asked that it be withdrawn, but the Solicitor General declined to do so. The bench is reported to have pushed back, with Justice Bagchi observing that even a person labelled a Naxalite does not forfeit their constitutional rights.
In a statement issued Monday, PUCL President Kavita Srivastava and General Secretary V. Suresh said the Solicitor General, as the second-highest law officer of the Union government, is expected to uphold courtroom decorum and argue on constitutional principles rather than resort to labelling individuals. They said such conduct diminishes the standard of legal argument and the dignity of the country's highest court. The organisation further alleged that branding any view critical of the government as "Naxalite" has become a recurring tactic of the Union government to delegitimise both the opinion and the person expressing it.
The statement noted that Krishna, a well-known Carnatic musician, recently authored a book on India's national symbols titled "We the People of India," tracing the lesser-known history of the national flag, song, anthem and emblem. It also referenced his essay collection "The Spirit of Inquiry: Notes of Dissent," for which Pratap Bhanu Mehta wrote a foreword describing Krishna as one of the most compelling artistic voices of his generation, whose writing opposes authoritarianism, communalism and inequality. PUCL said calling such a figure a Naxalite amounts to an attempt to intimidate and silence constitutionally protected speech.
The organisation said the Solicitor General should not seek to suppress criticism of the government through name-calling, calling the practice inconsistent with constitutional principles of free speech and dissent. It added that the episode tests not Krishna's commitment to the Constitution, evident in his decision to approach the Supreme Court, but rather the commitment of the Solicitor General and the Court itself to constitutional values. PUCL said it stood with both Dr. Muralidhar and Krishna, and called on "all democratically minded citizens" to do the same.
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