List of Padma Vibhushan award recipients

Padma Vibhushan
Awarded by Government of India
Type	Civilian
Category	National
Description
Obverse	A centrally located lotus flower is embossed and the text "Padma" written in Devanagari script is placed above and the text "Vibhushan" is placed below the lotus.
Reverse	A platinum Emblem of India placed in the centre with the national motto, "Satyameva Jayate" (Truth alone triumphs) in Devanagari Script
Ribbon
Statistics
Instituted	1954
First awarded	1954
Last awarded	2017
Total awarded	300
Previous name(s)	Padma Vibhushan "Pahela Warg" (Class I)
First awardee(s)	Satyendra Nath Bose Nandalal Bose Zakir Husain Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher V. K. Krishna Menon Jigme Dorji Wangchuck
Recent awardee(s)	Murli Manohar Joshi Sunder Lal Patwa (Posthumous) Sharad Pawar Udupi Ramachandra Rao P. A. Sangma (Posthumous) Jaggi Vasudev K. J. Yesudas
Award rank ← Bharat Ratna Padma Bhushan →

The Padma Vibhushan is the second highest civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for the "exceptional and distinguished service", without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex. The Padma Vibhushan award recipients are announced every year on Republic Day and registered in The Gazette of India—a publication released weekly by the Department of Publication, Ministry of Urban Development 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 Recipients whose awards have been revoked or restored, both of which require the authority of the President, are also registered in the Gazette and are required to surrender their medals when their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. As of 2017^[update], none of the conferments of Padma Vibhushan have been revoked or restored. The recommendations are received from all the state and the union territory governments, the Ministries of the Government, the Bharat Ratna and previous Padma Vibhushan award recipients, the Institutes of Excellence, the Ministers, the Chief Ministers and the Governors of State, and the Members of Parliament including private individuals. The recommendations received during 1 May and 15 September of every year are submitted to the Padma Awards Committee, constituted by the Prime Minister. The committee recommendations are later submitted to the Prime Minister and the President for the further approval.

When instituted in 1954, the Padma Vibhushan was classified as "Pahela Warg" (Class I) under the three-tier Padma Vibhushan awards; preceded by the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award, and followed by "Dusra Warg" (Class II), and "Tisra Warg" (Class III). 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 Padma Shri. The criteria includes "exceptional and distinguished service in any field including service rendered by Government servants" but excluding those working with the Public sector undertakings 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. The award, along with other personal civil honours, was briefly suspended twice in its history; for the first time in July 1977 when Morarji Desai was sworn in as the fourth Prime Minister. The suspension was rescinded on 25 January 1980, after Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister. The civilian awards were suspended again in mid-1992, when two Public-Interest Litigations were filed in the High Courts questioning the civilian awards being "Titles" per an interpretation of of the Constitution. The awards were reintroduced by the Supreme Court in December 1995, following the conclusion of the litigation.

...
Wikipedia