Bharat Ratna, Padma Awards can’t be used as prefix, suffix as they are not titles: Bombay High Court

Bombay High Court (file image)

• Bombay High Court ruled Padma awards are not official titles for legal use
• Court orders removal of Padma Shri title from case records in ongoing trial
• Supreme Court's 1995 judgment bars use of civilian honours as honorific titles

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The Bombay High Court has said that civilian honours like Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, and Bharat Ratna do not constitute official titles and must not be attached to recipients' names as prefixes or suffixes. As per a LiveLaw report, the ruling came during proceedings involving Dr Sharad Hardikar, who received the Padma Shri in 2014.

According to a LiveLaw report, Bombay High Court Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan, presiding over a single-judge bench, took exception to how the case was titled in the writ petition, which listed one party as "Padmashree Dr. Sharad M Hardikar & Ors" against "Dr. Trimbak V. Dapkekar".

The bench instructed that the award designation be struck from the case records, where Hardikar appeared as "Padma Shri Dr Sharad Moreshwar Hardiker."

Justice Sundaresan clarified that civilian awards cannot function as honorific titles and their use in such manner lacks legal basis. He observed that this practice contradicts established jurisprudence and has no place in judicial proceedings, the report added.

The court cited a 1995 Constitution Bench judgment from the Supreme Court that definitively established national honours like Padma Awards and Bharat Ratna do not grant any title and should not appear before or after individuals' names.

"Purely as an incidental point, taking cognisance of the manner in which one of the parties has been named in the title in these proceedings, it is the duty of this Court to draw attention to a five-judge Constitution Bench decision of the Supreme Court," the High Court noted.

Justice Sundaresan stressed the binding nature of this legal position, pointing out that Article 141 of the Constitution requires all courts to follow law as declared by the Supreme Court.

The court explained that while these awards represent national recognition, they do not change a person's legal identity, highlighting the importance of precision in their formal and legal application.

Padma Awards rank among India's most prestigious civilian honours and are announced annually on Republic Day eve. They are given in three categories — Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Vibhushan — recognizing distinguished service across various fields. The Bharat Ratna stands as the nation's highest civilian honour.