ARTICLE 18
“For the obdurate people will not believe
What they do not see and distinctly feel”
-The journey to the East, Hermann Hesse
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.
This Article marks a historic reform in the society and bowdlerizes fictitious and title-based hierarchies from the social structures. The symbols and signs of all wayward supremacy claims are constitutionally-removed from the social-scapes by this Article. This Article in its affirmative philosophy assertively commands complete severance of the practices followed during the British era in respect of conferment of titles.
In Britain, titles not only defined the unquestionable supremacy of social status and as a sub-text of title it was ensured that the ‘chosen one’ gets the undeserved priorities besides the best of State resources. In an anecdotal style social value of title is illustrated by a specific instance. An author in his recent well researched book, highlighted the social value of a title. Bertrand Russell, an eminent philosopher from the University of Cambridge, had developed art of making public addresses at public places. During one such sessions of public speech, he was beaten by an infuriated mob for speaking against the British policy of participation in World War II. One of his students rushed to a police station to seek assistance of the police for saving his brilliant teacher from the mob brutality. The Officer on duty, when requested by the student to save the Cambridge Scholar, facing irate mob disrupt his public address in the neighborhood park, on the topic of the folly of the British to participate in World War II, callously told the complainant that such anti-nationals must face the pain of mob fury. The student just uttered that he is not only a Cambridge Scholar but is a ‘Lord’. Upon hearing the word ‘Lord’, the officer on duty, in a split of a second, rushed to the spot to save Lord Bertrand Russell, while citizen Bertrand Russell was condemned to meet his fate. In India, titles like Rajbahadur, Raibahadur, Sir, Nawab, Maharaja, were conferred by the British on the ‘faithful Indians’.
At the time of adoption of the Constitution, all titles, except distinctions earned in military or academics, were rendered inconsequential and redundant, lock, stock and barrel, in the context of social recognition and social distinctions.
Article 18(1) prohibits the State from conferring any title, except military and academic distinction, on any person. Article 18(2) and (3) contain a loud and clear mandate to the citizens prohibiting from accepting any title from a foreign State. However, those who hold office of profit or trust under the State, and are not citizens of India, also need to obtain consent of President of India before accepting any title from the foreign State. Article 18(4) bars any other person holding an office of profit or trust under the State from accepting any present, emolument or office of any kind from or under any foreign State except with the consent of President of India.
This Article 18 does not per se prohibit the State from recognizing and acknowledging merit or work of extraordinary nature of any person by the State. However, Awards and decorations to recognize excellence in various distinct fields including performance of duties as contemplated in Article 51A of the fundamental duties by any citizen of India. Thus the national awards have been held to be not amounting to titles under Article 18(1) (Balaji Raghavan v. UOI (1196) 1 SCC 361 (paras 28, 29, 30, 31, 32): AIR 1996 SC 770).
This Article is part of the equality code enshrined in Constitution of India.