The Karnataka government’s decision to make the tune composed by late Mysore Ananthaswamy as the state’s anthem (naada geete) was challenged in the Karnataka High Court on Friday, September 30. A single judge bench headed by Justice Krishna S Dixit heard the petition by singer Kikkeri Krishnamurthy, and ordered that a notice be issued to the state government on Friday.
The song 'Jaya Bharata Jananiya Thanujate', written by late poet laureate Kuvempu, was declared the state anthem in 2004. But ever since, there have been concerns regarding the anthem's rendering duration, tune, and addition of words to it. While many sang the song as it was composed by the late singer C Ashwath, some sang Ananthaswamy's version. The song lasted anything between 1.30 and 8 minutes. Incidentally, the petitioner Krishnamurthy was a student of C Ashwath and sings renditions of Kannada folk songs.
In June 2013, the Vasantha Kanakapura committee set up for the purpose of determining which version would be the official state anthem, had said that the tune composed by C Ashwath would be continued for the anthem as Ananthaswamy had not composed the tune for the entire song. Later, the Dr Channaveera Kanavi committee also recommended the tune set by C Ashwath. However, the latest HR Leelavathi committee recommended the tune set by Ananthaswamy. Following this, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on September 23 cleared a proposal by the Kannada and Culture Department which recommended Mysore Ananthaswamy's tune based on the recommendation by the 18-member HR Leelavathi committee.
Singer Kikkeri Krishnamurthy, in his petition, said that it is impossible to implement the government's new order as "there is no full tune of the state anthem composed by Mysore Ananthaswamy." If the government gets another person to compose the tune for the remaining portions, "it amounts to showing disrespect to Mysore Ananthaswamy and as well as the state anthem," according to the petition that is seeking to quash the government's order.
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