In the Hon’ble High Court of Judicature at Allahabad,
Lucknow Bench, Lucknow
Writ petition No- 10942 of 2013 (M/B-Civil) (PIL)
Amitabh Thakur and
another Petitioners
Versus
Union of India and another Respondents
INDEX
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S No
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Description of documents relied upon
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Page No
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From
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To
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1.
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List of Dates and Events (separate)
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Separate
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2.
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Memo of Writ Petition
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3.
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Annexure No 1
A copy of the Guidelines for Bharat Ratna |
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4.
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Annexure No 2
A copy of the Guidelines for Padma Awards |
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5.
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Photo Identity of the petitioner
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6.
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Affidavit
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7.
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Vakalatnama
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Lucknow Asok
Pande
Dated- 21/11/2013 Counsel for Petitioner # 94154-65438
Dated- 21/11/2013 Counsel for Petitioner # 94154-65438
In the Hon’ble High Court of Judicature at Allahabad,
Lucknow Bench, Lucknow
Writ petition No- 10942
of 2013 (M/B-Civil) (PIL)
Amitabh Thakur and another Petitioners
Versus
Union of India and another Respondents
LIST OF DATES AND EVENTS
S No Date Event
1.
1954 National
civilian awards instituted
2.
1977 National
civilian awards abolished
3.
1980
National civilian awards re-initiated
4.
15/12/1995 Hon’ble
Supreme Court decision on this
issue
issue
5.
16/11/2013 Bharat
Ratna to Sri Sachin Tendulkar
The current procedure, method and criteria of awarding these highest National civilian awards is vague, wide-worded and amenable to misuse, affecting the significance, relevance and credibility of these awards. Similarly the award to Sri Sachin Tendulkar, belonging to a sports that is more of a Tamasha, anti-development and comes in the way of India’s progress and proper functioning despite many other much more capable sports persons in India does not seem appropriate. Finally there are many other extremely deserving persons who must be awarded Bharat Ratna to make these awards truly synonymous to its names.
Hence, this Writ Petition.
Lucknow
Asok Pande
Dated- 21/11/2013 Counsel for Petitioner # 94154-65438
Dated- 21/11/2013 Counsel for Petitioner # 94154-65438
In
the Hon’ble High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench, Lucknow
Writ petition No- 10942
of 2013 (M/B-Civil)(PIL)
1. Amitabh
Thakur aged about 45 years, s/o Sri T N Thakur r/o 5/426, Viram Khand, Gomti
Nagar, Lucknow
2. Dr Nutan
Thakur, aged about 40 years, w/o Sri Amitabh Thakur r/o 5/426, Viram Khand,
Gomti Nagar, Lucknow-------- Petitioners
Versus
1. Union of
India through Principal Secretary to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Government of
India, New Delhi
2. Union of
India through Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, New
Delhi ----------- Respondents
Writ Petition under Article 226 of the
Constitution of India
To,
The Hon’ble Chief Justice and His other Hon’ble companion
Judges of the aforesaid Court:
The humble petition of the above named petitioner most
respectfully begs to submit as under:
1. That by
means of this petition, the petitioners are invoking the extra ordinary
jurisdiction of this Hon’ble Court vested with it through Article 226 of the
Constitution to file this Public Interest Litigation (PIL, for short) to kindly
quash the Bharat Ratna awarded to Sri Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, cricketer as
having being awarded to a person who does not deserve to be awarded the highest
award of India for the reasons that shall be prescribed in details in this PIL
and for being opposed to the orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Balaji Raghavan & S.P. Anand Versus Union of India reported in
(1996) 1 SCC 361 and the order of this Hon’ble Court in Dr Nutan Thakur vs
Union of India and another in Writ Petition No 834 of 2013 (M/B). The
PIL is also being filed to quash the Office Memo of the respondent No 2,
Ministry of Home Affairs as regards bestowing of Bharat Ratna as being against
the principles of transparency and being extremely secluding and to direct the
respondents to make it more open, transparent, wide, inclusive and accountable
than it exists in the present form, so that it gets recommended not by a single
individual but by a formal Committee, which is also in accordance with the above
orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and this Hon’ble
Court. Finally
the petitioners make a humble player to kindly direct the respondents that the
Committee formed for Bharat Ratna may make a complete assessment of all the
Great people of this Nation and to grant the Bharat Ratna to all such Great
people from all the diverse fields of human excellence from the ancient period
to the present days, without any ideological, political, historic, religion or
other parochial considerations who truly deserve the Bharat Ratna so that the
title Bharat Ratna stands true to its name and becomes a virtual who’s who of
the true and genuine Bharat Ratna of this great Nation.
The
petitioners declares that Petition No 2, Dr Nutan Thakur had filed a Writ
Petition No 834 of 2013 (M/B) in a related matter which was heard and
disposed of by this Hon’ble Court through its order dated 30/01/2013- “In view of guidelines laid down by Supreme Court in the matter of Balaji
Raghavan & S.P. Anand Versus Union of India reported in (1996) 1 SCC 361,
no further order is required, hence, writ petition is dismissed.”. The
petitioners declare that they have not filed any other Writ petition before the
Hon’ble Supreme Court and this Hon’ble Court either at Allahabad or its Lucknow
bench pertaining to the subject matter and/ or for the relief prayed for in the
instant writ petition. It is further declared that in respect of the same
subject, no caveat notice has been received by the petitioner. As far as they
know there is no authoritative pronouncement by the Hon’ble Supreme Court or
this Hon’ble High Court on the specific issue raised here, except the orders of
the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Balaji Raghavan & S.P. Anand Versus
Union of India reported in (1996) 1 SCC 361 and the order of this Hon’ble Court
in Dr Nutan Thakur vs Union of India and another in Writ
Petition No 834 of 2013 (M/B) which are being invoked for making the
prayers are being presented in this PIL.
2. That this is
a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) being filed as regards Bharat Ratna awarded
to Sri Sachin Tendulkar, as regards the method and procedure to be adopted for
bestowing Bharat Ratna awards and as regards awarding these Bharat Ratna awards
to all the truly Great men of this Great Nation so that Bharat Ratna award
becomes truly synonymous to its name and rises above the various parochial and
political views presently being imputed to it.
3. That the
petitioners make it amply clear that their objective here is not to malign any
particular individual or administrative authority. The purpose is also not to
harm the interests of any of the individuals related or involved with the
process of Bharat Ratna. The sole purpose of filing this PIL is to make Bharat
Ratna truly synonymous to its name and to stop the after-effects of Bharat Ratna
to a person Sri Sachin Tendulkar, who as per the facts being presented in this
PIL comes as being an undeserving candidate for this Award, other than belonging
to a game that is truly dangerous and harmful to this Nation. The recognition
of Bharat Ratna is a matter associated with ultimate service to the Nation and
hence this is a matter that comes under the realm of Public Interest Litigation
(PIL) because the matter is associated with the entire Nation and the
petitioners have no personal gain from this, because presently they are nowhere
in the race to such an award. At the same time, this is a PIL because it is a
concern of the entire Nation and has its ramifications in so many ways over the
psyche of the entire Nation.
4. That this
being a PIL, the petitioners would beg to humbly state that in pursuance of
Rule 1, subrule (3A) of Chapter XXII of the Allahabad High Court Rules 1952,
they shall be presenting all the relevant facts related with themselves, their
particulars, their past works, their concerns and their credentials etc.
Petitioner no 1 is an officer of the Indian Police
Service, Uttar Pradesh Cadre, though he is filing this Writ Petition in his
individual capacity as a concerned citizen of this Nation. He is also concerned
with various social issues and has filed a large number of PILs on different
issues, is striving for formation of a Unified Police Association for all
policemen, right from the Constable to the DGP and is also involved with many
Human Rights issues. Petitioner No 2 is a well-known social activist who wants
to genuinely and positively contribute to the society in all possible ways. She
works primarily in the field of transparency and accountability in governance,
Human Rights and assisting in the enforcement of Rule of law. The petitioner
has filed a very large number of important Public Interest Litigations.
The
petitioners put it on oath that they are not filing this PIL nor have they
filed any other PIL for any ulterior motive save the stated one nor have they
received a single penny through any backdoor activity while filing these PILs.
They state on oath that they have no personal or private interest in the matter
and as far as they know there is no authoritative pronouncement by the Hon’ble
Supreme Court or this Hon’ble High Court on the specific issue raised here,
except the one mentioned in Para 1 which the petitioners want to be enforced in
letter and spirit. They put it on oath that the result of the Litigation will
not lead to any undue gain to them or anyone associated with them or any undue
loss to any person, body of persons or to the State.
5. That, the matter being presented in this PIL is as regards the highest
National
civilian awards named Bharat Ratna bestowed
by the Government of India. A copy of the Guidelines as regards these awards is
being attached as Annexure No 1.
6. That a policy of instituting National Awards and Honours had
been adopted even before the Constitution of India was formally drafted. On 13/02/1948,
the Hon’ble Prime Minister's Committee on Honours and Awards was set up under
the Chairmanship of the Constitutional Adviser to the Government of India, Sir
B.N. Rau. Its purpose was to recommend the number and nature of civil and
military awards; the machinery for making recommendations for the granting of
these awards; the frequency with which they were to be awarded, etc. The Committee
worked on the premise that orders and decorations, carrying no title, were not
meant to be prohibited. It submitted its report on 09/03/1948 and gave
extensive suggestions in respect of each of the subjects upon which it had been
required to give its recommendations. Thereafter, in a series of meetings held
between 30/05/1948 and 29/10/1953, the Cabinet had occasion to discuss the
nature and conditions of the proposed National Awards.
7. That the National Awards were formally instituted in
January, 1954 by two Presidential Notifications No.1- Pres./54 and
No.2-Pres./54 dated 02/01/1954 which were subsequently superseded by four fresh
Notifications, viz., No.1-Pres./55, 2-Pres./55, 3-Pres./55 and 4-Pres./55 dated
08/01/1955. The purpose for which these Bharat Ratna awards were to be given
are as follows:- For exceptional Service towards the advancement of art,
literature & science & in recognition of public service of the highest
order
8. That in addition to the highest civilian awards, Bharat
Ratna, other civilian awards by the name of Padma Vibhushan. Padma Bhushan and
Padma Sri were also established. They are bestowed as follows- “Padma
Vibhushan- For exceptional and distinguished service in any field including
service rendered by Govt. servants, Padma Bhushan- For distinguished service of
a high order in any field including the service rendered by Govt. servants,
Padma Shri- For distinguished service in any field including service rendered
by Govt. servants.” A copy of the Guidelines as regards Padma awards is being
attached as Annexure No 2.
9. That in the year 1969 and again in the year 1970, the late
Acharya J.B. Kripalani, who was then a Member of the Lok Sabha, moved a
non-official Bill entitled 'The Conferment of Decoration on Persons (Abolition)
Bill, 1969' for their abolition. In the draft statement of Objects and Reasons
appended to the Bill, among the main points was also stated:- b) The
decorations were not always awarded according to merit, and the Government of
the day is not the best Judge of the merits or the eminence of the recipient.
The Bill led to an elaborate debate in Parliament but was ultimately defeated.
10.
That on 08/08/1977, the
institution of the National Awards was cancelled, vide Notification
No.65-Pres/77. On 25/01/1980 the Government revived these awards by
Notification No.25-Pres./80 which cancelled the earlier Notification Since
then, the National Awards have been conferred annually on the Republic Day.
11.
That as things stand today,
‘Bharat Ratna’ is the highest civilian Award of the country and till
a few days ago, it was “awarded in recognition of
exceptional service/performance of the highest order in any field of human
endeavour.” The Guidelines related with Bharat Ratna
issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs says that –“The recommendations for
Bharat Ratna are made by the Prime Minister himself to the President. No formal
recommendations for this are necessary.”
12.
That as a reference, it seems necessary to kindly mention as
regards the Padma awards that Padma Shri is awarded for
‘distinguished service’; Padma Bhushan for ‘distinguished service of a
high order’; and Padma Vibhushan for ‘exceptional and distinguished
service. The three Padma award seeks to recognize work of any distinction and
is given for distinguished and exceptional achievements/service in all fields
of activities/disciplines, such as Art, Literature and Education, Sports,
Medicine, Social Work, Science and Engineering, Public Affairs, Civil Service,
Trade and Industry etc.
13.
That for the Padma Awards, invitations/recommendations
are invited every year from all State/UT Governments, Ministries/Departments of
the Government of India, Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan awardees and
Institutes of Excellence by 1st October. Recommendations received from
them and also from other sources like Ministers, Hon’ble Chief
Ministers/Hon’ble Governors of State, Members of Parliament, as also private
individuals, bodies etc., are placed before the Padma Awards Committee. The Awards
Committee is constituted by the Hon’ble Prime Minister every year.
14.
That but for Bharat Ratna, no formal recommendations are necessary and recommendations for
Bharat Ratna are made by the Prime Minister himself to the President
15.
That as per the above provisions,
the
Government of India decided on 16/12/2013 to confer, the Bharat Ratna on “eminent
scientist Prof C.N.R.Rao and cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar”. As per the Press
Information Bureau Press release-“Prof. C.N.R. Rao is an eminent scientist and
a well recognized international authority on solid state and materials
chemistry. He has published over 1,400 research papers and 45 books. Prof.
Rao's contributions have been recognized by most major scientific academies
around the world through conferment of memberships and fellowships. He has been
honoured with several national and international awards” While “Shri Sachin
Tendulkar is undoubtedly an outstanding cricketer - a living legend who has
inspired millions across the globe. During the last 24 years, since the young
age of 16 years, Shri Tendulkar has played cricket across the world and won
laurels for our country. He has been a true ambassador of India in the world of
sports. His achievements in cricket are unparalleled, the records set by him unmatched,
and the spirit of sportsmanship displayed by him exemplary. That he has been
honoured with several awards is testimony to his extraordinary brilliance as a
sportsman.”
16.
That it is this decision as regards Sri Tendulkar that the
petitioners challenge through this PIL.
17.
That to begin with, Bharat Ratna is the “highest civilian Award” which “is awarded in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the
highest order.”
18.
That as the above words go,
there is no further or higher recognition to service and/or performance made by
“any person”
19.
That interestingly though it
is never stated in the Guidelines and the words are quite wide to include
“exceptional service/performance of the highest order in any field of human
endeavour”, but so far it has been understood to mean such service and/or
performance with reference to India. Thus though the words in the Guidelines
are extremely wide and particularly the words “Any
person without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex is eligible for
these awards” makes every person in the world eligible for these awards if
he/she has made “exceptional
service/performance of the highest order in any field of human endeavour”, but
so far the awards have generally been India-centric.
20.
That the only person who has
neither been an Indian nor directly related with India and yet has been awarded
the Bharat Ratna is Dr. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (year 1992)
21.
That there has been another person who was not an
Indian citizen at the time of being awarded Bharat Ratna, Sri Khan Abdul
Ghaffar Khan (year 1987) but his Indian connection, including his role in the
Freedom struggle are too well-known to be elucidated here and this makes Sri
Gaffar Khan’s recognition as being done for his service for this Nation.
22.
That even Dr Nelson Mandela has been often said to closely
associated to the Non-violent means of Mahatma Gandhi and hence in a way there
is an Indian connection to his award.
23.
That from the above facts, one can safely presume that despite no
such restrictions and despite its universal wordings, Bharat Ratna is primarily
and mainly an award for the service and performance of the Indians and at most
to those whose service and performance have been very closely associated and/or
useful for India.
24.
That with these basic premises, the next fact to be considered is
regarding the kind of Great men who have been awarded Bharat Ratna.
25.
That before the two recent recipients, a total of 41 persons have been
awarded Bharat Ratna. As stated earlier, 39 of them have been Indians.
26.
That till 1966 only living persons were given these awards till it
was given posthumously to Sri Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1966, almost immediately
after his death.
27.
That then Sri Kumaraswami Kamraj (1976) and Sri Acharya Vinobha
Bhave (1983) were also awarded Bharat Ratna, almost immediately after their
deaths, as was Sri M G Ramchandran in 1988.
28.
That it was in 1990 that a person having died some 34 years ago
was granted Bharat Ratna, in case of Sri B R Ambedkar who died in the tear
1956.
29.
That soon thereafter in 1991, Sri Vallabh Bhai Patel and in 1992
Sri Maulana Abul Kalam Azad were granted Bharat Ratna while Sri Patel had died
as early as in 1950 and Sri Azad in 1958. Again Sri Jaya Prakash Narayan was
granted Bharat ratna in 1999 exactly 20 years after his death in 1979.
30.
That what the above facts present is that- (a) though nationality
is not a bar to Bharat Ratna it is generally granted to Indians (b) now for the past few years a definite
policy has begun of assessing the contributions of persons who have been dead long
ago and to grant them Bharat Ratna much later after their death
31.
That what the above points mean is that the Bharat Ratna, the
ultimate honour of the Government of India, is taken by the government as a
reward not only to the living persons but to every such Indian, even dead many
years ago, who is thought to have made the required extraordinary contribution
to humanity and deserves to be duly awarded.
32.
That now coming to the recent Bharat Ratna awards, as regards Sri
Tendulkar, as per the Press Information Bureau website- “The Prime Minister,
Dr. Manmohan Singh, has congratulated Sachin Tendulkar for the Bharat Ratna
award. In a letter, the Prime Minister said that Sachin has been a true
ambassador of India in the world of sports. Following is the text of the Prime
Minister’s letter: “Please accept my warm congratulations for the 'Bharat
Ratna' award. In conferring this award on you, the nation has honoured a living
legend whose numerous achievements and exemplary conduct on the cricketing
field have inspired millions across the globe. You have been a true ambassador
of India in the world of sports. We salute you as a sporting genius and a
global sporting icon. You will continue to inspire our countrymen not only in
sports but also in other areas of human endeavour. I wish you all success in
the next phase of your career.”
33.
That it kindly needs to be noted that as per the official records,
Sri Tendulkar is a cricket icon and “undoubtedly an outstanding cricketer - a
living legend who has inspired millions across the globe. During the last 24
years, since the young age of 16 years, Shri Tendulkar has played cricket
across the world and won laurels for our country. He has been a true ambassador
of India in the world of sports. His achievements in cricket are unparalleled,
the records set by him unmatched, and the spirit of sportsmanship displayed by
him exemplary.
34.
That thus what it means is that Sri Tendulkar is a cricketer, an
exemplary cricketer, an excellent cricketer, possibly among the best cricketer
in the world. He is a living legend among the cricketers and has played cricket
all across the world and a true ambassador of sports. His achievements in
cricket are possibly unparalleled.
35.
That as per the letter by the Hon’ble Prime Minister- “the nation
has honoured a living legend whose numerous achievements and exemplary conduct
on the cricketing field have inspired millions across the globe. You have been
a true ambassador of India in the world of sports. We salute you as a sporting
genius and a global sporting icon.”
36.
That there is an important issues involved here as regards sports
persons in India. Though India has not produced many true world class sports
persons, but there are certainly a few. There is Sri Major Dhyan Chand, the
true legend of Hockey, the alleged National game of India. There is Ms P T
Usha, the great athlete. There is the legendary Sri Milkha Singh, whose
achievements are extremely widely reckoned. There is also Sri Vishwanathan
Anand, the true world champion in the extremely widely played sports of Chess.
There is Sri Prakash Padukone who won great laurels and honours for this Nation
in the game of Badminton. There are Sri Michael Ferreira and Sri Geet Sethi,
the living legends in the fields of Billiards and snooker.
37.
That Sri Dhyan Chand is widely considered to be the greatest
hockey player of all time. He is most remembered for his goal-scoring feats and
for his three Olympic gold medals (1928, 1932, and 1936) in field hockey, during an era where India
was dominant in the sport. Known as “The Wizard” for his superb ball control,
Chand played his final international match in 1948, having scored more than 400
goals during his international career.
38.
That Ms Pilavullakandi Thekkeparambil Usha, popularly known as P.
T. Usha, is an athlete associated with Indian athletics since 1979. She is
regarded as one of the greatest athletes India has ever produced and is often
called the "queen of Indian track and field". She is nicknamed the
Payyoli Express. In the 10th Asian Games held at Seoul in 1986, Ms Usha won 4
gold medals and 1 silver medal in the track and field events. Here she created
new Asian Games records in all the events in which she participated. She won five
golds at the 6th Asian Track and Field Championship at Jakarta in 1985. Her six
medals at the same meet is a record for a single athlete in a single
international meet
39.
That Sri Milkha Singh, also known as The Flying Sikh, is a
former track
and field
sprinter who as of
2013, is the only Indian male athlete to win an individual athletics
gold medal
at a Commonwealth
Games. He
represented India in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and the 1964
Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The race for which Singh is best remembered is his fourth-place
finish in the 400 metres final at the 1960 Olympic Games, where his fourth-place time of
45.73 became the Indian national record and held for almost 40 years. From
beginnings that saw him orphaned and displaced during the Partition of India, Sri Singh has become a sporting icon in his country. In 2008,
journalist Sri Rohit Brijnath described Singh as "the finest athlete India
has ever produced". In July 2012, The Independent said him "India's
most revered Olympian is a gallant loser"
40.
That Sri Viswanathan Anand is the current World
Chess Champion.
Sri Anand has won the World Chess Championship five times (2000, 2007, 2008,
2010, 2012), and has been the undisputed World Champion since 2007. Sri Anand
was the FIDE World Rapid Chess Champion in 2003, and is widely considered the
strongest rapid player of his generation. Sri Anand became India's first grandmaster in
1988. He was also the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1991–92,
India's highest sporting honour. Sri Anand has won the Chess
Oscar six times
(1997, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008). He held the FIDE
World Chess Championship from 2000 to 2002, at a time when the world title was split. He
became the undisputed World Champion in 2007 and defended his title against Sri
Vladimir Kramnik in 2008. Sri Anand is one of six players in history to
break the 2800 mark on the FIDE rating list. He was at the top of the world
rankings five out of six times, from April 2007 to July 2008, holding the
number-one ranking for a total of 15 months.
41.
That Sri Prakash Padukone is a former Indian badminton player who
won the All England Championship and became the first Indian to do so. He
changed his playing style into a more aggressive style in 1971, and won the
Indian national junior title in 1972. He also won the senior title the same
year. He won the National title consecutively for the next seven years.
42.
That Sri Geet Siriram Sethi is a professional player of English
billiards who dominated the sport throughout much of the 1990s, and a notable
amateur (ex-pro) snooker player. He is a six-time winner of the
professional-level and a three-time winner of the amateur World Championships,
and holder of two world records, in English billiards.
43.
That Sri Michael Ferreira nicknamed "the Bombay Tiger",
is notable amateur player of English billiards from India, and a three-time
Amateur World Champion. He participated in the Indian National Billiards
Championship in 1960 for the first time, and in 1964 represented India in the
World Amateur Billiards Championship (WABC) held in New Zealand, where he
progressed to the semi-finals. In 1977, he won his first World Amateur
Billiards Champion title and followed it up with the World Open Billiards
Champion title in the same year. He has
two more WABC titles under his belt. In 1978 he became the first amateur to
break the barrier of 1,000 points, in the billiards national championships, and
created a new amateur world record by scoring 1,149 points.
44.
That these are achievements of only a few great sportspersons of
India.
45.
That none of these performances stand inferior to that of Sri
Tendulkar in the field of sports.
46.
That most of these sportspersons participate in games and sports
played all over the world. Athletics to which Sri Milkha Singh and Ms Usha
belong, is played by all the Nations of the world and hence the competition
there is truly global. Chess and Badminton are again extremely widely played games.
Billiards and snooker are again global games. Hockey is possibly the only other
game like Cricket which has a limited reach among the Nations of the world.
47.
That hence the sporting achievements of these players, considering
the basic fact of the global reach of these games, stands much superior to that
of Sri Tendulkar.
48.
That considering the same reach, the achievements of Sri Dhyan
Chand is definitely superior to that of Sri Tendulkar because he has just
retired while Sri Chand maintains his numero-uno position many years after
having left the ground and this world.
49.
That another facet is as regards the game of cricket itself. As is
well-known, cricket today is less of a game and more of a Tamasha. It is an
entertainment, madly and badly hyped by Media, money and all kinds of
distractions. Hence any achievements in this game needs to be taken with a
pinch of salt, with extreme care and caution.
50.
That there is an extremely negative aspect related with cricket as well. It is what Karl Marx said
much earlier for religion- “an opium to the poor masses of India”. In a poor
and developing nation, cricket is acting as a hindrance to development. It is
an anti-development game, it goes against development and well-being of the
Nation. The moment a game is played, the entire nation stands still, thanks to
24X7 cameras and TV channels. The officers stop working, the officers get
closed, many Mantralay get at stand still. Many other offices, schools,
colleges and other Institutions get badly affected. It is all because of the
artificial and false hype created around this game. The entire nation thus gets
adversely affected by this Tamasha, which a nation like India cannot really
afford but has sadly fallen prey to.
51.
That thus this game of cricket, less of serious game and more of
an artificial pomp and show, with money and Massala, is dangerous to the nation
in the larger sense and is definitely acting as an hindrance to its proper
development.
52.
That hence this artificially propelled game, with façade all
around it, need not be honoured to the extent other genuine sports need to be
honoured and their sports persons felicitated.
53.
That thus fundamentally being anti-people and anti-development,
coming in the way of proper functioning of this Nation in days of all kinds of
matches, cricket as a game, needs to be evaluated in its entirety and
sportspersons associated with this game, need to be treated accordingly as
definitely being inferior to other games, much more global in nature and much
more competitive
54.
That hence despite all his achievements is cricket, Sri Tendulkar
being associated with a retro-grad game which comes against the development of
the nation, which is being played by a handful of countries, which is nothing
more than pomp and show and an artificial tamasha, he certainly does not
deserve the award to the extent that any of other sportspersons mentioned here
in above Para deserve.
55.
That hence Sri Tendulkar’s award needs to be quashed as being improper
and he being undeserving for the award
56.
That another related aspect is
that the Hon’ble
Supreme Court of India in Balaji Raghavan/S.P.Anand (supra) had said-- “32.
It has been contended before us that over the years, the purpose for which
these awards were instituted has been diluted and they are granted liberally to
persons who are undeserving of them. The perversion of the system was the
motivating factor behind the Bill introduced in Parliament by Acharya Kripalani
to abolish these decorations. It is to be remembered that Acharya Kripalani was
the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights where the present
Article 18(1) was originally formulated. He was, therefore, fully aware of the
exact import of Article 18(1). It is significant that in the debates in
Parliament, the thrust of his attack was on the misuse of these decorations”
and that-“33. The guidelines contained in the communique from the Ministry of
Home Affairs towards the selection of probable recipients are extremely wide,
imprecise, amenable to abuse and wholly unsatisfactory for the important
objective that they seek to achieve.”
57.
That Hon’ble Supreme Court
also said-“The history and experience shows that, in the beginning, these
awards were given to a limited number of persons but in the recent years there
have been floodgates of awards for the person who are well known, lesser known
and even unknown. The Padma awards have been conferred on businessmen and
industrialists who have multiplied their own wealth and have hardly helped the
growth of national interest. Persons with little or no contribution in any
field can be seen masquerading as Padma awardees. The existing procedure for
selection of candidates is wholly vague and is open to abuse at the whims and
fancies of the persons in authority. Conferment of Padma awards without any firm
guidelines and fool-proof method of selection is bound to breed nepotism,
favoritism, patronage and even corruption. During the British occupation India
has had a spate of title hunters who brought degradation and much harm to
healthy public life. The title hunters have always been considered a menace to
the safe growth of a society. Though the Padma awards are not titles but in
case these awards are given at the whims of the authorities - without there
being proper criteria and method of selection - they are bound to do more harm
to the society than the title-seekers did during the British regime” and that-“Therefore,
to ensure that Padma awards are truly national in character and above party and
political considerations, I suggest that a committee at national level be
constituted by the Prime Minister of India in consultation with the President
of India which may include, among others, the Speaker of Lok Sabha, the Chief
Justice of India or his nominee and the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
At the State level similar committees may be formed by the Chief Minister of
the State in consultation with the Governor. The committee may, among others,
include Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Chief Justice of the State or his
nominee and the leader of the Opposition. The function of the State committees
may only be to recommend the names of the persons, who in their opinion are
deserving of a particular award. The final decision shall have to be taken by
the National Committee on Awards. No award should be conferred except on the
recommendation of the National Committee. The recommendation must have the
approval of the Prime Minister and the President of India. The number of awards
under each category must be curtailed to preserve their prestige and dignity.
In any given year the awards, all put together, may not exceed fifty.”
58.
That since this order, the
respondents have framed certain definite Guidelines as regards the three Padma
awards but as regards the Bharat Ratna, the situation is still the same. As
stated above, the sole person to recommend these awards is the Hon’ble Prime Minister who recommends this to the
Hon’ble President and who then bestows these awards.
59.
That hence with due respect
to the office of the Hon’ble Prime Minister, the fact that emerges from this is
that the highest civilian award gets awarded through the decision of a single
person.
60.
That it can be easily seen
and appreciated that thus against the Padma awards, which are inferior to the
Bharat Ratna, there is a definite process as stated by the Hon’ble Supreme
Court and as restated by this Hon’ble Court in Dr Nutan Thakur (supra) but
sadly and unfortunately, for the highest awards there is no such established
procedure, no definite Guidelines, no definite methodology and no prescribed
process.
61.
That hence again with
highest regards to the office of the Hon’ble PM, the fact remains that any
person who occupies this chair is after all a human being and a political
person at that. Thus, any decision left solely to him is bound to have natural deficiencies
even with the best person in the seat, as is always understood.
62.
That hence a sole
individual, a political person, a person belonging to a political party, a
person always having elections in mind can never fundamentally and logically be
regarded as being completely neutral and hence the fact that other than being a
single authority to decide Bharat Ratna, the Hon’ble PM is also a political
entity definitely complicates the situation.
63.
That this situation and
this position is against the basic premises of transparency and accountability
and in the present age of responsible, accountable and transparent governance
needs to be immediately amended.
64.
That hence with due regards
to the office of Hon’ble PM, for the benefit of this office as well, the
petitioners humbly pray that the current Guidelines being improper, inadequate
and imperfect, other than being completely hidden and definitely providing a
scope for personal linking and disliking and introduction of extraneous
factors, needs to be immediately quashed and the respondents be kindly directed
to frame adequate, clear, transparent Guidelines for Bharat Ratna as well, in
tune with the above mentioned orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and this
Hon’ble Court, as the respondents have already framed for the Padma awards, which has definitely
introduced much more transparency and accountability in these awards than they
previously existed. What is prayed that these Guidelines may constitute a
wide-ranging committee as suggested by the Hon’ble Supreme Court or otherwise and
form definite Rules for themselves, to be followed in each case.
65.
That the final prayer is
that just the way many persons like Sri Patel, Sri Ambedkar, Sri jaya Prakash,
Sri Azad were bestowed the Bharat Ratna, many-many years after their deaths, the
new Guidelines and the new Committee takes a holistic and complete analysis of
all the Great men India has produced so far, in each and every quarter of this
Nation, who have their contributions and performances of such a nature that
needs no introduction and explanation and bestow the Bharat Ratna to all such
truly great Indians so far in the history of India.
66.
That for instance, who
would disagree that Ashoka the Great, Harsha Vardhan, Kalidas, Surdas,
Tulasidas, Meera Bai, Kamban, Tiruvalluwar, Shankaracharya, Akbar the Great, Lord
Buddha, Lord Mahaveer, Swami Vivekanand, Ravindra Nath Tagore, Netaji Subhash
Bose, J C Bose, Kabir, Chaitanya, Guru Nanak, Guru Govind Singh, Raja ram Mohan
Roy, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, sardar Bhagat Singh and so many others were true and
real Bharat ratna.
67.
That the petitioners have
presented only a handful of names, to their limited knowledge and best of
abilities, neither exhaustive, nor definitely to be followed.
68.
That but a wide-ranging
Committee with the required expertise can definitely bring all the names that
are true Bharat ratna and then the Nation may bestow Bharat ratna to all these
people to make any real sense of this word, instead of having pick and choose
method, often leading to conflicts, controversies, heated discussions and difference
of opinions, at the same time leaving many such true gems of this Nation whose
contributions and performances are beyond any bounds and truly and universally
accepted.
69.
That now that the
Respondents have an award by name of Bharat Ratna, it seems natural to include
all these true Bharat Ratna in this list to make the name truly acceptable,
more so in the light of the fact that already many people have been granted
Bharat Ratna many years after their death.
70.
That hence the
petitioner approaches this Hon’ble Court because in the prevailing
circumstances, the petitioners are left with no other option than to approach
the Hon’ble Court with this Writ Petition to ask for certain prayers because of
the reasons being stated among the Grounds as enumerated below.
71.
That the petitioner’s photograph
and Identity proof in the form of Passport has been enclosed along with.
GROUNDS
(1)
Because the current system of choosing the awardees
for the Bharat Ratna is extremely
wide, imprecise, amenable to misuse and unsatisfactory for the important
objective that they seek to achieve
(2)
because this has the potential led to
allegations, counter-allegations, incongruities, incoherency, confusions and
the accompanied controversies surrounding these awards
(3)
Because even the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Balaji Raghavan & S.P. Anand (supra) and this Hon’ble Court in Dr
Nutan Thakur (supra) has expressed its serious concern over this
matter
(4)
Because with due regards and honour to the
office of the Hon’ble PM, there seems to be a need to have specific, clear-cut
and well-expressed norms and criteria for selecting the awardees for these
Awards
(5)
Because Sri Tendulkar does not seem to
deserve these awards
(6)
Because Sri Tendulkar belongs to a game
having extremely limited global reach and which is not at all universal.
(7)
Because
there have been many much greater achievers in Indian sports mentioned above
who played in truly global games and won laurels for the Nation
(8)
Because
cricket is a Tamasha and an artificially propagated game having dangerous
repercussions for the Nation and its players need definitely not be awarded the
highest Award, in the interest of the Nation, so as not to honour a sports that
has made so much adverse contributions to this Nation
(9)
Because the wide ranging Committee shall bestow these awards to
all the truly real Bharat Ratna so far in Indian history, just the way a few
great men were given these awards after their death, so as to make these awards
truly synonymous with their names
PRAYER
Wherefore,
it is most respectfully prayed that this Hon’ble Court may be pleased to-
(a)
to issue a writ of certiorari quashing the Bharat Ratna recently
awarded to Sri Sachin Tendulkar for reasons explained above, and for being
opposed to the orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Balaji Raghavan & S.P. Anand Versus Union of India reported in
(1996) 1 SCC 361 and the order of this Hon’ble Court in Dr Nutan Thakur vs
Union of India and another in Writ Petition No 834 of 2013 (M/B).
(b)
to issue a Writ of mandamus to the respondents to quash the Office Memo of the respondent No 2, Ministry of Home
Affairs (Annexure No 1) as regards bestowing of Bharat Ratna as being against
the principles of transparency and being extremely secluding and to direct the
respondents to make it more open, transparent, wide, inclusive and accountable
than it exists in the present form, so that it gets recommended not by a single
individual but by a formal Committee, which is also in accordance with the
above orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and this
Hon’ble Court,
so as to form a National Selection Committee for
Bharat ratna in the form suggested by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in
Balaji Raghavan/S.P.Anand vs Union Of India and this Hon’ble Court in Dr Nutan Thakur vs
Union of India and others or otherwise to
choose awardees for these extremely prestigious awards, with definite number of
members and clear rules and procedures
(c)
to issue a writ of mandamus to the respondents and the national
Selection Committee for Bharat Ratna to make
a one-time effort in such a manner that all the true and real Great men of this
Nation, including Ashoka the Great, Harsha Vardhan, Kalidas, Surdas, Tulasidas,
Meera Bai, Kamban, Tiruvalluwar, Shankaracharya, Swami Vivekanand, Netaji
Subhash Bose, Sardar Bhagat Singh and/or others, get awarded by Bharat Ratna so
that the award actually comes to symbolize its name in the true sense of the
word.
(d)
Issue any other suitable order or direction
Lucknow Asok Pande
Dated- 20/11/2013 Counsel for Petitioner # 94154-65438
In the
Hon’ble High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench, Lucknow
Writ petition No- of 2013 (M/B- Civil)
Amitabh Thakur and another Petitioners
Versus
Union of India and another Respondents
AFFIDAVIT
I, Nutan Thakur, aged about 40 years, w/o Sri
Amitabh Thakur r/o 5/426, Viram Khand, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow, religion Hinduism,
education- P Hd, D Litt, profession- Social activist and journalist, the
deponent, do hereby solemnly affirm and state on oath as under-
1. That the
deponent is the petitioner No 2 in the above noted petition and as such she is
fully conversant with the facts and circumstances of the case, deposed to
hereunder. She also states on oath that she is filing this Affidavit on behalf
of Petitioner No 1 as well.
2. That the
contents of the paragraphs 1 of
the Writ petition are true to my personal knowledge, based on documents and
records and along
with the Interim Relief application (presented separately) are believed to be
true or are based on legal advice.
3. That the
Annexure No 1 to 2 the true copy of the original.
Place Lucknow (Nutan
Thakur)
Date- 20/11/2013 Deponent
VERIFICATION
I, the deponent above named, do hereby verify
that the contents of paragraphs 1 to 3 above this Affidavit are true and
correct to my knowledge. No part of it is false and nothing material has been
concealed. So, help me God
Signed and verified this the day of 2013 at Lucknow
Deponent
Identification
I identify the deponent, on the basis of
records produced before me, who has signed before me.
Advocate
Solemnly affirmed me on at am/pm by the
deponent Nutan Thakur, who has been identified by Sri clerk to Sri ,
Advocate, high court, Lucknow Bench, Lucknow
I have satisfied myself by examining the
deponent that she understands the contents of this Affidavit which have been
read over and explained to him by me
Oath
Commissioner
Sachin is a great cricketer.
ReplyDeleteBut he becomes deserving for Bharat Ratna only if more deserving sports candidates before him get it