Well, this is certainly not a good development for little master Sachin Tendulkar as according to a story running on the social media, Indian cricket legend, Sachin Tendulkar might have to return his Bharat Ratna owing to the fact that a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed against him in the Madhya Pradesh High Court for allegedly misusing the prestigious honor by appearing in commercial advertisements on television.
Taking note of the PIL, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has now directed the assistant solicitor general to find out within a week if there are any Supreme Court guidelines that bar Tendulkar, or any other Bharat Ratna awardee for that matter, from appearing in television commercials.
Mr. VK Naswah, who happens to be the petitioner in this case, has said that was not comfortable with Tendulkar appearing in commercial endorsements and added that either he should return the Bharat Ratna on grounds of propriety or the government should take it back.
“Using this honour for commercial purpose is ‘illegitimate’,” he has given argument. Incidently, this is not the first time that Tendulkar has been questioned regarding the matter as a Mumbai-based NGO had written a letter to him last year asking him to not endorse commercial products on television.
Currently the star cricketer and an M.P, endorses more than 12 brands, some of the prominent ones being Aviva Life Insurance, Boost and MRF. It is worthwhile to mention that Tendulkar, had retired from international cricket in November 2013 after enjoying an glorious career spanning 24-years and became the first sportsperson to receive the Bharat Ratna when the award was conferred on him last February.
Whatever the outcome might be, there is no doubt about the unparallel achievements of Sachin Tendulkar, who ended his international career at the top of the run-scoring charts in both Test and ODI cricket, having scored 15921 runs from 200 Tests and 18426 runs from 463 ODIs will remain unmatched. He is and he will always remain a shining star and an Icon for millions of his die hard supporters.