AGRA: Mahatma Gandhi was never accorded the ‘Father of the Nation’ title by Government of India and no rule or ordinance was ever passed in this regard. This was stated by the Union cultural ministry in a response to an RTI query filed by Hathras resident Gaurav Agarwal .

Earlier in 2012, a student of class VI in Lucknow, Aishwarya Parashar, had filed an RTI in this regard and had written to then President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to issue a notification declaring Mahatma Gandhi the 'Father of the Nation'.

The Home ministry had then told her that no action was taken on her plea because Article 18 (1) of the Constitution does not permit any titles except education and military ones.

Talking to TOI, Hathras resident Agarwal said that the purpose of asking this question was to “get clarity as everyone calls Mahatma Gandhi the Father of the Nation”.

Recently, a bench comprising Chief Justice SA Bobde and justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant, had observed, “Mahatma Gandhi is the Father of the Nation and people hold him in high esteem, beyond any formal recognition”, while refusing to entertain a PIL seeking conferment of ‘ Bharat Ratna ’ on Mahatma Gandhi.

Anil Dutt Sharma, in his PIL, had sought a direction to the government to give “official decoration” to Mahatma Gandhi to honour him for his contribution to the nation.

