JUDGMENT

Ahmadi, CJI-The short but interesting question that arises for our consideration is :-

"Whether the Awards, Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri (hereinafter called "The National Awards") are "Titles" within the meaning of Article 18(1) of the Constitution of India ?"

2. Before dealing with the legal aspects of the question at issue, we may briefly set out the factual matrix of the two cases. The two petitions which have given rise to this issue were filed in the High Courts of Kerala and Madhya Pradesh (Indore Bench), respectively. The petitioner in T.C. (C) No. 9/94, Balaji Raghavan (hereinafter called Petitioner No. 1 ) had filed O.P. No. 2110/92 (hereinafter called the O.P. ) on February 13, 1992 before the Kerala High Court. The petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution, sought, by way of a writ of mandamus, to prevent the respondent from conferring any of the National Awards. The petitioner in T.C. (C) No. 1/95, S.P. Anand (hereinafter called petitioner No. 2 ) filed Misc. Petition No. 1900/92 (hereinafter called the M.P. ) on August 24, 1992, before the Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, praying for the same relief.

3. I