Will Sushil Kumar lose his Padma? Government to take time to decide

NEW DELHI: With no clarity offered by

Padma Awards

scheme regarding grounds for cancellation of a Padma award and there being no precedent of an awardee being arrested subsequently for a heinous offence, the government is unlikely to rush into a decision on whether or not to recommend taking back the Padma Shri awarded to wrestler Sushil Kumar, in view of his murder taint.


Kumar was arrested on Sunday for allegedly murdering fellow wrestler Sagar Dhankar in a clash at Delhi’s Chhatrasal wrestling academy. He faces charges of murder, abduction and criminal conspiracy.

The Padma Awards scheme states: “The President may cancel and annul the award of the decoration to any person and thereupon his name shall be erased from the

Register

and he shall be required to surrender the decoration and the Sanad. But it shall be competent for the President to restore the decoration and the Sanad and to withdraw the orders of cancellation and annulment.”

Kumar, who has won two Olympic medals – a bronze in 2008 games at Beijing and silver medal at London in 2012 – was awarded the Padma Shri in 2011.

A source said the home ministry was seized of the issue and would take an appropriate decision at the right time.

Former home secretary N Gopalaswami said that while the home ministry was competent to discuss a review of his Padma award suo motu, it may like to wait for a court order – even if it is at the chargesheet stage – before recommending to the President of India to cancel and annul the award.

“After a chargesheet is filed, the award may be cancelled by the President. If at all he is acquitted later, the orders cancelling the award can always be withdrawn,” Gopalaswami told TOI on Monday.

The general sense is that even if the Padma Awards does not spell out grounds for withdrawal of an awarded Padma, it is a given that anybody seen worthy of the one of the country’s highest civilian honours should maintain a certain decorum and high moral standards.

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