Many recipients of the Bharat Ratna trained or practised as lawyers, among them C. Rajagopalachari (1954), Jawaharlal Nehru (1955), Govind Ballabh Pant (1957), Rajendra Prasad (1962), B.R. Ambedkar (posthumously, 1990), Vallabhbhai Patel (posthumously, 1991) and Madan Mohan Malaviya (posthumously, 2015). Gandhi never received the award.
Ambedkar: posthumous, 1990.
Gandhi never received the Bharat Ratna.
Quick check: In which year was Dr B.R. Ambedkar awarded the Bharat Ratna?
1962
2001
1956
1990
Answer: D.
1995
Are National Awards "Titles"?
Balaji Raghavan
In Balaji Raghavan v. Union of India (1995), a five-judge bench held that the Bharat Ratna and Padma awards do not violate Article 18 because they are not titles, but recipients must not use them as prefixes or suffixes to their names, on pain of forfeiture.
Padma Vibhushan to Jurists
The second-highest civilian honour
Lawyers and judges honoured with the Padma Vibhushan include M.C. Setalvad (1957), V.R. Krishna Iyer (1999), N.A. Palkhivala (1998), Soli Sorabjee (2002), Fali S. Nariman (2007), K. Parasaran (2011) and K.K. Venugopal (2015).
Lawyers Who Won the Nobel Peace Prize
Law and peace
Nobel Peace laureates trained in law include Tobias Asser (1911, for the Hague private international law conferences), Elihu Root (1912), René Cassin (1968, for the UDHR), Seán MacBride (1974, co-founder of Amnesty International), Nelson Mandela (1993) and Shirin Ebadi (2003), the first Iranian and first Muslim woman laureate, a former judge.
René Cassin: 1968.
Shirin Ebadi: 2003.
Quick check: Which lawyer and former judge was the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize (2003)?
Shirin Ebadi
Malala Yousafzai
Narges Mohammadi
Tawakkol Karman
Answer: A.
Ramon Magsaysay Award and the Law
Asia's Nobel
Indian winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for work in law and public accountability include T.N. Seshan (1996, election reform), M.C. Mehta (1997, environmental litigation), Aruna Roy (2000, the right to information movement) and J.M. Lyngdoh (2003, conducting the Jammu and Kashmir elections).
Quick check: Which RTI activist, a founder of the MKSS, received the Magsaysay Award in 2000?
Medha Patkar
Aruna Roy
Arvind Kejriwal
Anna Hazare
Answer: B.
20 more entries under this heading
The Goldman Environmental Prize · M.C. Mehta
United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights · Awarded every five years
Honours Renounced in Protest · Tagore and Jallianwala Bagh
Padma Bhushan for Fathima Beevi · A posthumous honour
Nobel Peace Prize: Louis Renault · A French international lawyer
Nobel Peace Prize: Tobias Asser · Founder of the Hague Conference on Private International Law
Nobel Peace Prize: Elihu Root · A US lawyer and Secretary of State
Nobel Peace Prize: Carlos Saavedra Lamas · The first Latin American Nobel laureate
Nobel Peace Prize: René Cassin · A principal drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Nobel Peace Prize: Seán MacBride · A founder of Amnesty International
Nobel Peace Prize: Nelson Mandela · Shared with F.W. de Klerk
Nobel Peace Prize: Shirin Ebadi · The first Muslim woman Nobel laureate
Nobel Peace Prize: Mohamed ElBaradei · A lawyer who led the International Atomic Energy Agency
Bharat Ratna: P.V. Kane · Author of the History of Dharmaśāstra
Bharat Ratna: Madan Mohan Malaviya · Lawyer, founder of Banaras Hindu University
Magsaysay Award: M.C. Mehta · For environmental litigation
Magsaysay Award: Aruna Roy · For the right to information movement
Magsaysay Award: J.M. Lyngdoh · For integrity as Chief Election Commissioner
Magsaysay Award: Bezwada Wilson · For the campaign against manual scavenging
Right Livelihood Award: Colin Gonsalves · For human rights litigation
PlusAll 25 entries, and every heading in the LibraryYours from ₹1,499, till CLAT 2028See Plus
