The Maharashtra government has informed the Bombay High Court that it has already forwarded a proposal for the posthumous conferment of the Padma Vibhushan award to wrestler Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav, who was India's first individual Olympic medalist.
Government's Submission to the Court
During a hearing at the high court's Kolhapur bench last week, the state government stated that a fresh proposal would also be submitted for the 'Padma Awards 2027' well before the nomination deadline of July 31. The bench, comprising Justices Madhav Jamdar and Pravin Patil, had previously asked the Centre and the state government to decide on awarding the Padma Vibhushan posthumously to Jadhav.
Background of the Case
The court accepted the state government's submission on May 7 and scheduled the next hearing for June 30. The case stems from a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the 'Kusteeveer Khashaba Jadhav Foundation', founded by Jadhav's son, Ranjeet Jadhav.
The PIL sought a direction to the Ministry of Home Affairs (Padma Awards Cell) to reconsider a representation for the posthumous award of the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honor, to Khashaba Jadhav. Jadhav, who passed away in 1984, won a bronze medal in wrestling at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. He was posthumously awarded the Arjuna Award in 2001.
The PIL claimed that Jadhav's family had made several representations to the government seeking recognition, but received no response, prompting the foundation to approach the high court.
