Padma Bhushan
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Padma Bhushan
Type
National Civilian
Country
Presented by
Ribbon
Obverse
A centrally located lotus flower
is embossed, and the text
"Padma" written in Devanagari
script is placed above, and the
text "Bhushan" is placed below
the lotus.
Reverse
A platinum
placed in the centre with the
national motto of India,
"
" (Truth alone
triumphs) in Devanagari Script
Established
1954
; 72 years ago
First award
1954
Final award
2026
Total
1354
Website
Precedence
Next (higher)
Next (lower)
(military)
(civilian)
←
"Dusra Varg" (Class II)
Padma Bhushan award recipients
Year
Number of recipients
1954–1959
94
1960–1969
200
1970–1979
205
1980–1989
133
1990–1999
113
2000–2009
291
2010–2019
218
2020–2029
87
The
Padma Bhushan
(
:
Padma Bhūṣaṇa
,
lit.
'
Lotus Decoration
'
is the
third-highest
in the
, preceded by the
and the
and followed by the
.
Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished
service of a high order ... without distinction of race, occupation,
position or sex". The award criteria include "service in any field,
including service rendered by Government servants," including doctors
and scientists, but exclude those working with the
. As of 2026
, the award has been bestowed on 1354
individuals, including 41 posthumous and 103 non-citizen recipients.
The Padma Awards Committee is constituted every year by the
and the recommendations for the award are submitted
between 1 May and 15 September. The recommendations are received from
all the
, as well as from
,
and
, the Institutes of Excellence, Ministers,
and
,
, and private individuals. The
committee later submits its recommendations to the Prime Minister and
the
for further approval. The award recipients are
announced on 26 January, the
.
When instituted in 1954, twenty-three recipients were honoured with the
Padma Bhushan. The Padma Bhushan, along with other personal
, was briefly suspended twice, from July 1977 to January 1980 and
from August 1992 to December 1995. Some of the recipients have refused
or returned their conferments.
History
[
]
On 2 January 1954, a press release was published from the office of the
secretary to the President of India announcing the creation of two
civilian awards—
, the highest civilian award, and the
three-tier
, classified into "Pahela Varg" (Class I),
"Dusra Varg" (Class II), and "Tisra Varg" (Class III), which rank below
the Bharat Ratna.
On 15 January 1955, the Padma Vibhushan was
reclassified into three different awards: the Padma Vibhushan, the
highest of the three, followed by the Padma Bhushan and the
.
The award, along with other personal
, was briefly
suspended twice in its history.
The first time in July 1977 when
was sworn in as the fourth
, for
being "worthless and politicized."
The suspension was rescinded
on 25 January 1980 after
became the Prime Minister.
The civilian awards were suspended again in mid-1992, when two
were filed in the
, one in the
on 13 February 1992 by Balaji Raghavan and another in the
(Indore Bench) on 24 August 1992 by Satya Pal
Anand. Both petitioners questioned the civilian awards being "titles" per an
interpretation of
of the
.
On 25 August 1992, the Madhya Pradesh High Court issued a notice temporarily
suspending all civilian awards.
A Special Division Bench of the Supreme
Court of India was formed comprising five judges: A. M. Ahmadi C. J.,
,
, N. P. Singh, and S. Saghir Ahmad. On 15 December
1995, the Special Division Bench restored the awards and delivered a
judgment that the "Bharat Ratna and Padma awards are not titles under
Article 18 of the Constitution of India."
Regulations
[
]
The award is conferred for "distinguished service of a high order...without distinction of race, occupation, position
or sex." The criteria include "service in any field, including service rendered by Government servants" but exclude
those working with the
, with the exception of doctors and scientists.
The 1954 statutes
did not allow posthumous awards,
but this was subsequently modified in the January 1955 statute;
became the first recipient to be honoured posthumously in 1999.
The recommendations are received from all the
, as well as from
,
and
, the Institutes of Excellence, Ministers,
and
,
, and private individuals. The recommendations received
between 1 May and 15 September of every year are submitted to the Padma Awards Committee, convened by the
. The Awards Committee later submits its recommendations to the Prime Minister and the President of
India for further approval.
The Padma Bhushan award recipients are announced every year on 26 January, the
, and registered in
—a publication released weekly by the Department of Publication,
used for official government notices.
The conferral of the award is not considered official without its publication
in the
Gazette
. Recipients whose awards have been revoked or restored, both of which actions require the authority of
the President, are also registered in the
Gazette
and are required to surrender their medals when their names are
struck from the register.
Specifications
[
]
The original specification of the award was a circle made of standard silver
1
3
⁄
8
inches (35 mm) in diameter, with
rims on both sides. A centrally located lotus flower was embossed on the obverse side of the medal and the text "Padma
Bhushan" written in
Script was inscribed above the lotus along the upper edge of the medal. A floral wreath
was embossed along the lower edge and a lotus wreath at the top along the upper edge. The
was
placed in the centre of the reverse side with the text "Desh Seva" in Devanagari Script on the lower edge. The medal
was suspended by a pink
1
1
⁄
4
inches (32 mm) in width, divided into three equal segments by two white vertical
lines.
A year later, the design was modified. The current decoration is a circular-shaped bronze-toned medallion
1
3
⁄
4
inches
(44 mm) in diameter and
1
⁄
8
inch (3.2 mm) thick. The centrally placed pattern made of outer lines of a square of
1
3
⁄
16
inches (30 mm) side is embossed with a knob embossed within each of the outer angles of the pattern. A raised
circular space of diameter
1
1
⁄
16
inches (27 mm) is placed at the centre of the decoration. A centrally located lotus
flower is embossed on the obverse side of the medal, and the text "Padma" written in Devanagari script is placed
above, and the text "Bhushan" is placed below the lotus.
The
is placed in the centre of the reverse side with the national motto of India, "
"
(Truth alone triumphs) in Devanagari Script, inscribed on the lower edge. The rim, the edges, and all embossing on
either side are of standard gold with the text "Padma Bhushan" of gold gilt. The medal is suspended by a pink riband
1
1
⁄
4
inches (32 mm) in width with a broad white stripe in the middle.
The medal is ranked fifth in the order of precedence of wearing medals and decorations.
The medals are produced at
, Kolkata along with the other civilian and military awards like
,
,
, and
.
Refusals and controversies
[
]
See also:
Some of the bestowals of the Padma Bhushan have been refused or returned by the recipients.
activist
(1959) was the first awardee who refused their conferment as "he felt state awards merely help create a
sycophantic brigade" and "did not want to encourage the impression that the government was serious about the
importance of theatre in national life."
player
declined to accept the award in 1968,
stating that "the selection committees were incompetent to judge [his] music." Khan had earlier refused
in
1964 and later also turned down
in 2000.
Journalist
rejected the award in 1990, stating that "journalists should not be identified with the
establishment." Historian
refused to accept the award twice, for the first time in 1992, and later again
in 2005, stating that she would accept awards only "from academic institutions or those associated with my
professional work." For her 2005 bestowal, Thapar sent a clarification letter to the then President
mentioning that she had declined to accept the award when the
had
contacted her three months prior to the award announcement and had explained her reasons for not accepting the
award.
Journalist and civil servant
refused his 1999 bestowal, citing that "bureaucrats and
journalists should not accept any award from the government because they are more liable to be favoured."
In 2003,
'
s (RSS) volunteer
rejected the award until
(RSS
founder) and
(RSS ideologue) are offered the
. Civil servant
turned down the
award in 2005 without citing any reason.
In 2013,
refused to accept her award and stated
that "the award has come late in her five-and-half-decade long career." The singer also mentioned that she is not
against the Government and expressed happiness for the recognition, but requested the Government to "show some more
consideration to the artists from the
."
In 2014, family members of
who served as
refused the posthumous conferral,
stating that "Verma himself would not have accepted" the honour as he "never hankered or lobbied for any acclaim,
reward or favour."
novelist
, who was awarded in 1968, returned his award to protest against the
.
Novelist
, who accepted the award in 1974 in the field of
literature and education, returned it in 1984 as a notion of protest against the
. Singh was later
awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2007.
, 1986 recipient and scientist and founder-director of
(CCMB), returned his award in 2015 in protest of the
and
out of concern at the "prevailing socio-politico situation" in the country.
The 2010 conferment on an
businessman
, who was awarded the Padma Bhushan in the
field of Public Affairs, created much controversy. Known for his association with former US President
and
his wife
, Chatwal pled guilty to violating the
and witness tampering
during the
.
He was also accused of lobbying for the award by leveraging
"his contacts in the
and
."
The Government provided clarification regarding the conferment and issued a press release which mentioned Chatwal as a
"tireless advocate" of the country's interest in the United States. The statement also mentioned that "due diligence"
exercise is carried out for each of the awardees and out of five
(CBI) registered cases
against Chatwal between 1992 and 1994, three were closed by CBI itself and in remaining two cases, Chatwal was
discharged by the Court and as per the reports that were made available to the selection committee, there is nothing
adverse on record against him.
According to media reports, there were several cases filed or registered
after April 2009 which includes three criminal complaints with
and four cases in
and
. Chatwal also served a summons in January 2010. However, the then
said that "no probe has been ordered nor any report sought from anyone."
Earlier in 2008, Chatwal was considered for the
, but the
in Washington, D.C. declined to
nominate Chatwal when asked by the Prime Minister's Office. The then Indian
to the United States
had told PMO that the conferral would not be appropriate because of the controversy associated with his financial
dealings in India and America. Sen also mentioned that, though positive, Chatwal's contributions are much less
compared to those of other Indian-Americans. The bestowal would not only "demoralise the others who had done much
more" but also would create "the impression that India did not regard lack of transparency in financial dealings as a
disqualification for its highest honours."
In 2022, former
refused to accept his award on the eve of the 73rd
Republic Day of India. He reportedly refused to have been intimated about his nomination and straightaway
exclaimed
[
]
in the media that if he had been awarded, he would refuse the same. His name appeared on the
official list of awardees, and so far, he has refused the same.
List of awardees
[
]
Notes
[
]
Per Article 18 (1) of the
: Abolition of titles, "no title, not being a military or academic distinction,
shall be conferred by the State."
References
[
]
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.
All
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External links
[
]
Wikimedia Commons has media
related to
.
.
. 14 September 2015
. Retrieved
22 October
2015
.
award recipients (1954–1959)
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
# Posthumous conferral
award recipients (
)
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
# Posthumous conferral
award recipients (1970–1979)
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
# Posthumous conferral
award recipients (1980–1989)
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
Amarjit Singh
1986
1987
1988
1989
# Posthumous conferral
award recipients (1990–1999)
1990
1991
1992
1998
1999
# Posthumous conferral
award recipients (
)
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
# Posthumous conferral
award recipients (2010–2019)
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
# Posthumous conferral
award recipients (
)
2020
#
#
#
2021
2022
#
Suchitra Ella
#
2023
2024
#
Hormusji N. Cama
Sitaram Jindal
Young Liu
#
#
#
#
2025
#
Kailash Nath Dikshit
#
#
#
2026
#
#
#
# Posthumous conferral
:
This page was last edited on 23 March 2026, at 02:40
(UTC)
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