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Desire is asked before giving the award, there is no right to return it; Read the rules related to Padma Award
If any award winner wishes, he can return his award by giving reasons but there is no such provision in the case of Padma Award. Once a person is honoured with the Padma Award, his or her name is published in the Gazette of India. Even before Bajrang Punia, many people have announced to return the Padma Award.
Recently, Olympic award winner in wrestling Bajrang Punia announced that he is going to return the Padma Award given by the Government of India. It is known that Bajrang Punia is not the first person who has not talked about returning the Padma Award given by the Government of India, even before this many winners have made such an announcement.
According to a news published in the Times of India, any award winner can return his award by giving reasons, but there is no such provision in the case of the Padma Award. The rule regarding the Padma Award is that unless there is a concrete reason, the award cannot be cancelled. This happens only if the President decides that the name of the winner should be withdrawn.
However, the award rules also mention how if the President cancels someone's award, his instructions can be cancelled.
In 2018, the then Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju had said in the Rajya Sabha that any person is nominated for National Awards only after examining and verifying his character by the investigating agencies of the country. Thereafter, as is customary, before releasing the names of the nominees for the award, they are asked whether they wish to receive the award or not. Although this is done informally, if the recipient declines that they do not want the award, their name is not recorded.
