Constitution of India: Article 18: Abolition of titles

Apr 28, 2021 - 15:08

Apr 28, 2021 - 21:47

Article 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.

Background

Article 12, Draft Constitution, 1948 1) No title shall be conferred by the State. (2) No citizen of India shall accept any title from any foreign State. (3) No person holding any office of profit or trust under the State shall, without the consent of the President, accept any present, emolument, title, or office of any kind from or under any foreign State. Draft Article 12 (Article 18) was debated on 1st December 1948. It abolished the conferring and recognition of titles. A member of the Drafting Committee proposed an amendment to clarify that titles related to military and academic distinction were exempted from the scope of the Draft Article. This was accepted by the Assembly without debate. Another member wanted to amend clause (2) to make it explicit that the State would not recognize any titles conferred by a foreign State. He argued that in its present form, the Draft Article merely prohibited an Indian citizen from accepting a title but did not prohibit the State from recognizing it; further, he pointed out that no penalty or consequences were prescribed for the same. A member contended that anybody accepting such a title should be deemed to have forfeited their Indian citizenship. The Chairman of the Drafting Committee responded that Parliament could use its residuary powers to prescribe a penalty for this act. The amendment was rejected by the Assembly. The amended Draft Article was adopted on 1st December 1948.