Former Chief Justice of India J S Khehar, late Suzuki chief Osamu Suzuki and folk singer late Sharda Sinha and former cricketer are among 139 eminent people given Padma awards on the eve of the 76th Republic Day on Saturday. The set of civilian awards announced includes seven Padma Vibhushan, 19 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri decorations. "Twenty-three of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of foreigners, NRI, PIO, OCI and 13 posthumous awardees," the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement. Former CJI Justice (retd) Jagdish Singh Khehar has been given the Padma Vibhushan, while Suzuki chief Osamu Suzuki, folk singer Sharda Sinha and M T Vasudevan Nair earned the honour posthumously. Dinamalar publisher Lakshmipathy Ramasubbaiyer has been awarded Padma Shri for literature, education and journalism. Former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi, economist Bibek Debroy, gazal singer Pankaj Udhas have been given Padma Bhushan .
Justice Khehar had a short but eventful tenure as CJI
He hailed the support of the bar in his endeavour to digitise the justice delivery system