Padma Bhushan Awards (2010–2019)
| Padma Bhushan | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| 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 "Bhushan" is placed below the lotus. | ||||
| Reverse | A platinum Emblem of India placed in the centre with the national motto of India, "Satyameva Jayate" (Truth alone triumphs) in Devanagari Script | ||||
| Ribbon |  |
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| Statistics | |||||
| Instituted | 1954 | ||||
| First awarded | 1954 | ||||
| Total awarded | 195 | ||||
| Previous name(s) | Padma Vibhushan "Dusra Warg" (Class II) | ||||
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The Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian honour of the Republic of India, preceded by the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Presented by the Government of India since 1954 for "distinguished service of a high order", without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex, the award consists of a certificate and a medallion and the recipient's name is registered in The Gazette of India. When instituted, the Padma Bhushan was classified as "Dusra Warg", a class-two award under the three-tier Padma Vibhushan awards, which were preceded by the Bharat Ratna in hierarchy. On 15 January 1955, the Padma Vibhushan was reclassified into three different awards as the Padma Vibhushan, the highest of the three, followed by the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Shri. The Padma Bhushan, along with other personal civilian honours, was briefly suspended twice since its inception; for the first time in July 1977 and the suspension was annulled on 25 January 1980 by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The civilian awards were suspended again in mid-1992 for it being "titles" per an interpretation of of the Constitution of India. On 25 August 1992, the Madhya Pradesh High Court issued a notice temporarily suspending all civilian awards. 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".
The conferment on an Indian-American businessman Sant Singh Chatwal in 2010 created much controversy. Chatwal, who was awarded the Padma Bhushan in the field of Public Affairs, is known for his association with former US President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton and pled guilty to violating the Federal Election Campaign Act and witness tampering during the United States presidential election. He was also accused of lobbying for the award by leveraging "his contacts in the Prime Minister's Office and United States Congress". The Government, however, issued a press release defending the conferment. The statement mentioned Chatwal as a "tireless advocate" of the country's interest in the United States and clarified that out of five Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered cases against him 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 was "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 Kerala Police and four cases in Delhi High Court and Kerala High Court. Chatwal also served summons in January 2010. However, the then Union Home Secretary Gopal Krishna Pillai said that "no probe has been ordered nor any report sought from anyone". Earlier in 2008, Chatwal was considered for the Padma Shri but the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C. declined to nominate Chatwal when asked by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Ronen Sen who was then serving as the Indian Ambassador to the United States had told PMO that the conferral would not be appropriate because of the controversy associated with Chatwal's financial dealings in two countries. Sen had also mentioned that though positive, Chatwal's contribution are much less compared to other Indian-Americans and 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".
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