First president of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad ordered for establishing biggest ever civilian award Bharat Ratna on January 2, 1954. Concept of awarding this award posthumously was not there in the original statute declared in January 1954...
Soon after the award was established its original concept followed presenting a circular gold medal that would have state emblem and motto and rest aspects as decided thereafter. Factors including concrete decision about design to choose...
Posthumous Bharat Ratna award to the Indian freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in 1992 came into news for typical reasons. A Public Interest Litigation stalled everything and the award was forced to be withdrawn thereafter...
Diputes Related to Bharat Ratna
Award to Subhas Chandra Bose
Posthumous Bharat Ratna award to the Indian freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in 1992 came into news for typical reasons. A Public Interest Litigation stalled everything and the award was forced to be withdrawn thereafter. The court raised question on the award’s posthumous nature itself. The posthumous award was invalidated once the committee failed to bring conclusive evidence about the death of Bose for making it posthumous in nature.
Award to Abdul Kalam Azad
The prompt declination of first Education Minister of India, Abul Kalam Azad brought the award into different kind of limelight. The argument of this esteemed freedom fighter was that why should he receive it when he was one of the selection committee members of this award. He was awarded Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1992 for outstanding contributions.
Award to Sachin Tendulkar
When it was decided to confer Sachin Tendulkar with Bharat Ratna, one of the activists of RTI gave in writing to India’s Election Commission that such a declaration amounted to violation of code of conduct of the elections. In this petition, he opined that as Sachin had been nominated as an MP from Congress, if the Bharat Ratna were to be conferred on him, it would influence the ongoing voting process in states such as Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi. This particular petition was not entertained by the election commission, based on the statement that if someone from non-polling states were to be given an award like Bharat Ratna, it is not included under the model code of conduct violation.