Needless controversies often run deep. On the face of it, the controversy over Belgium’s decision to confer the Order of Leopold on Sonia Gandhi may appear trivial and meaningless. But this appearance may not altogether be a reflection of reality. The Constitution of India (Article 18, clause 2) states categorically, “No citizen of India shall accept any title from any foreign state.” This article is enshrined as one of the fundamental rights in the Constitution. This simple and direct diktat from the framers of the Constitution contains certain ambiguities. For one, it does not quite clarify the distinction between a title and an honour. All titles are an honour, and most honours carry a title with it. There are many eminent Indians who have accepted foreign honours — for example, Satyajit Ray had the Légion d’honneur conferred on him by the republic of France. Similarly, there are other Indians who have accepted OBEs and MBEs. The Constitution does not provide any guidelines on this matter. The Order of Leopold could be seen as an honour and as a title. The ambiguity, however, is the less serious aspect of the problem.

The more serious aspect is the fact that Article 18 can be read as a contravention of the fundamental right concerning the freedom of the individual. One of the aims of enacting Article 18 was to move away from the practice followed by the British with respect to the conferment of titles. It was assumed that the conferment of titles would lead to a creation of a “distinct unequal class of citizens”. This assumption could be valid in the context of Great Britain, which has an institution called the House of Lords. But in a republic like India, where equality of status is enshrined in the Constitution, such an assumption may not be valid. An individual who is a citizen of a republic should, in principle, be at liberty to accept any title or honour that is being conferred on him. He cannot use that honour as an Indian citizen to claim for himself any special privilege or status. The idea of equality should not breach the idea of liberty and vice versa. It will not be unfair to surmise that the said article was probably put down in the context of the nationalist movement that was directed inevitably against the British. That context is now history. As a mature republic and a robust democracy, India can now perhaps review clause 2 of Article 18 of the Constitution. Liberty and equality can both flourish in India.