<P> Several bestowals of the award have met with criticism . The posthumous award for M.G. Ramachandran (1988) was considered to have been aimed at placating the voters for the upcoming assembly election and posthumous awards of Madan Mohan Malaviya (2015) and Vallabhbhai Patel (1991) drew criticism for they died before the award was instituted . </P> <P> On 2 January 1954, a press communiqué was released from the office of the secretary to the President announcing the creation of two civilian awards--Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award, and the three - tier Padma Vibhushan, classified into "Pahela Warg" (Class I), "Dusra Warg" (Class II), and "Tisra Warg" (Class III), which rank below the Bharat Ratna . On 15 January 1955, the Padma Vibhushan was reclassified into three different awards; the Padma Vibhushan, the highest of the three, followed by the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Shri . </P> <P> There is no formal provision that recipients of the Bharat Ratna should be Indian citizens . It has been awarded to a naturalised Indian citizen, Mother Teresa in 1980, and to two non-Indians, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan of Pakistan in 1987 and the former South African president Nelson Mandela in 1990 . Sachin Tendulkar, at the age of 40, became the youngest person and first athlete to receive the honour . In a special ceremony on 18 April 1958, Dhondo Keshav Karve was awarded on his 100th birthday . As of 2015, the award has been conferred upon 45 people with 12 posthumous declarations . </P> <P> The award was briefly suspended twice in its history . The first suspension occurred after Morarji Desai was sworn in as the fourth Prime Minister in 1977 . His government withdrew all personal civil honours on 13 July 1977 . The suspension was rescinded on 25 January 1980, after Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister . The civilian awards were suspended again in mid-1992, when two Public - Interest Litigations were filed, one in the Kerala High Court and another in the Madhya Pradesh High Court, challenging the "constitutional validity" of the awards . The awards were reintroduced by the Supreme Court in December 1995, following the conclusion of the litigation . </P>

The first foreigner to receive bharat ratna was