4,208 People Recommended Rape Convict Ram Rahim For Padma Award

Anyone can nominate any person for the Padma Awards. The nominations or recommendations for the awards can be received online only on the portal www.padmaawards.gov.in designed by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

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Gurmeet Ram Rahim convicted in sexual harassment case

The special CBI court shifted from Ambala to Panchkula and the case against Dera chief was also transferred to Panchkula CBI Court.

The sentence was passed by Jagdeep Singh, a special CBI judge, in a makeshift court in the Sunaria jail where Ram Rahim, 50, had been lodged since his conviction on Friday.

Honeypreet, whose real name is Priyanka Taneja, was married to Vishwas Gupta in 1999 during a ceremony held in Dera in Ram Rahim's presence.

Political stalwarts Murli Manohar Joshi, Sharad Pawar and former Lok Sabha speaker late P A Sangma, cricketer Virat Kohli and Carnatic musician K J Yesudas were among the 89 people who were selected for the Padma awards in 2017. (AP Photo)

The nominations are placed before the Padma Awards Committee, constituted by the prime minister every year. The awards -- Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri -- are announced on the eve of the Republic Day. (AP Photo)

More than 4,200 people recommended 'Saint Dr Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan' for a Padma award in 2017, while the self-styled godman and now rape convict proposed his own name for the honour five times.

Recommendations can also be made by state governments, UTs, ministries, departments of the government of India, Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan awardees, central and state ministers, chief ministers and governors of state, and Members of Parliament.

According to the list of recommendations or nominations for Padma Awards 2017, the Union home ministry received 18,768 applications. (AFP Photo)

Following his conviction on August 25, large scale violence witnessed in Panchkula, Chandigarh, Sirsa and other parts of Haryana and Punjab which claimed 38 lives

According to the documents, of the five recommendations, one was for 'Saint Dr Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan' by 'Saint Dr Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji InsanSaintgorge'.

The overwhelming majority of those who recommended the Dera chief's name for the highest civilian honour in the country used single names like Abha, Aditya, Akbar, Alfez, Baljinder, Milky, Gajal, Komal, Jony, Jesse and Ishwar.