➤ Article 18:
Abolition of Titles:
- The State is prohibited from conferring any titles on any person, whether a citizen or a foreigner. The only exceptions are military or academic distinctions.
- Indian citizens cannot accept titles from any foreign state.
- Foreigners holding an office of profit or trust under the Indian State cannot accept any title from any foreign state without the president's consent.
- No citizen or foreigner holding an office of profit or trust under the Indian State can accept any present, emolument, or office from any foreign state without the president's consent.
➤ Hereditary Titles:
- Article 18 bans hereditary titles of nobility such as Maharaja, Raj Bahadur, Rai Bahadur, Rai Saheb, Dewan Bahadur, etc., which were conferred by colonial states, as they are against the principle of equal status for all.
➤ National Awards:
i) Constitutional Validity:
- The Supreme Court in the Balaji Raghavan case (1995) upheld the constitutional validity of national awards such as the Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri.
- The Court ruled that these awards do not amount to 'titles' within the meaning of Article 18 since they are not hereditary titles of nobility.
- However, it ruled that the awards should not be used as suffixes or prefixes to the names of awardees; otherwise, they could forfeit the awards.
ii) History of the National Awards:
- These awards were instituted in 1954.
- The awards were discontinued by the Janata Party government in 1977 but revived in 1980 by the Indira Gandhi government.
- The Padma Awards are announced every year on Republic Day, except for some interruptions in 1978, 1979, and from 1993 to 1997.
➤ Limits on Number of Awards:
- The total number of Padma Awards given in a year (excluding posthumous awards and awards given to NRIs, Foreigners, or OCIs) should not exceed 120.
- The number of Bharat Ratna Awards is restricted to a maximum of three in a particular year.