Explanation:

Article 18(1) prohibits the State from conferring any 'title', except a military or academic distinction. Article 18(2) prohibits the citizens of India from accepting any title from a foreign government. A foreigner, holding any office of profit or trust under the State, cannot accept any title from any foreign State without the consent of the President. The Supreme Court has ruled in the ‘Balaji Raghavan v/s the Union of India case’, that the national awards, like "Bharat Ratna" and "Padma Vibhushan", etc., awarded by the Government of India, are not 'titles' within the meaning of Article 18(1). These awards are not violative of ‘the principles of equality’, as guaranteed by Articles 14 and 18. However, the awards conferred by the State are not to be used as suffixes or prefixes. The Court has also suggested that the Prime Minister, in consultation with the President, should appoint a high level committee to lay down criteria for the selection of the persons for these awards. In the words of Kuldip Singh, J., "Conferment of Padma awards without any firm guidelines and foolproof method of selection is bound to breed nepotism, favouritism, patronage and even corruption."