CAN INDIAN CITIZENS ACCEPT TITLE AND PRESENTS FROM FOREIGN POWERS? DOES CONTRAVENTION OF ARTICLE 18 CONFERS ANY LIABILITY?

Article 18 of the Constitution of India provides the law relating to titles and presents which states as :-

18. Abolition of titles :-

(1) No title, not being a military or academic distinction, shall be conferred by the State. 

(2) No citizen of India shall accept any title from any foreign State.

(3) No person who is not a citizen of India shall, while he holds any office of profit or trust under the State, accept without the consent of the President any title from any foreign State. 

(4) No person holding any office of profit or trust under the State shall, without the consent of the President, accept any present, emolument, or office of any kind from or under any foreign State. 

A title is an application given to a person or family as a sign of privilege or distinction or profession as the title of Lord. It is something that hangs to one’s name as an addition. Article 18 prohibits only hereditary titles of nobility. The British government had created an aristocratic class known as Rai Bahadur and Khan Bahadur in India; these titles were also abolished. The recent conferment of Honours as Bharat Ratna, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, etc. are not to be treated in the category of title, for these distinctions are not meant to be used as appendages before one’s name.

However the military and the academic distinction can be conferred on the citizens of India .The awards cannot be used by the recipient as a title and do not accordingly come with the constitutional prohibition. 

In Balaji Raghavan v. Union of India , 1996 the validity of National Awards was challenged in the court under Article 18 on the ground of their inconsistency with that Article. The Supreme Court came to the conclusion that they did not conflict with Article 18 because they did not amount to titles within the meaning of this article. However, the Supreme Court added that they could not be added and suffixes and prefixes to the name of the awardee and if so added they could be forfeited.

Can Indian citizen accept Titles and Presents from Foreign Powers.

Any citizen of India can not accept the title from any foreign state, but it can accept the title only if the president gives his/her consent to accept it.

Contravention of Article 18

There is no penalty for the contravention of this Article for the infringement of the prohibition of titles. Article 18 is merely a directory. However, the parliament can make laws against those who accept these titles from the foreign state, but no such law has been passed by the parliament so far.

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