One can ‘check out’ in Padma protest, but can never leave: There is no provision for return or acceptance of returned awards, awardee will remain on records | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Olympic medal-winning wrestler Bajrang Punia is not the first person to ‘return’ his Padma award after having received it, as a mark of protest. However, like all those who have ‘returned’ their Padma honour – which comes with a sanad (certificate) and decoration – over the years, he will very much remain in the register of awardees as the regulations have no provision for either the return or acceptance of a returned award.
“While an awardee may announce his decision to return the award for whatever reason, Padma Awards regulations do not cover this eventuality. They only allow cancellation and annulment of the awards by the President, without specifying the grounds. The awardee continues to be in the register of Padma recipients maintained under directions of the President, until his/her award is annulled. The rules provide for cancellation of such annulment by the President,” an official told TOI.

There is no history of annulment of a Padma Award. “The awards are conferred after verification of character & antecedents of the persons by investigating agencies of the country,” then minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju had told Rajya Sabha in 2018.
As per normal practice, willingness of the person proposed to be conferred Padma Awards is informally ascertained to the extent possible, before the announcement of the awards. Many have declined the award at this point.
After a person is decorated with Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan or Padma Shri, his/her name is published in Gazette of India and a register of such recipients is maintained. “Even if the awardee later volunteers to return the Padma award, his/her name is not removed from the gazette or the register of awardees,” said an officer.

The most recent cases relating to ‘return’ of Padma awards were that of former Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal and former Union minister S S Dhindsa. They wrote to the President in 2020 saying they were “returning” their awards in solidarity with the farmers’ protesting against the three farm laws. Incidentally, the names of Badal and Dhindsa still figure in the register of Padma awardees.