The great Sachin Tendulkar might lose his Bharat Ratna

Resident of Bhopal filed a petition stating Sachin uses the 'fame' of award to 'endorse products and earn money'

A file photo of Sachin Tendulkar receiving the Bharat Ratna from then President Pranab Mukherjee. PHOTO: REUTERS

A resident of Bhopal, V K Naswah, has filed a petition against Indian cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar to strip him off his Bharat Ratna award which he thinks the cricketer has used for ‘earning money by endorsing commercial products’.

In a report published by the Press Trust of India, The Madhya Pradesh High Court has admitted a petition which has alleged Sachin of using the ‘fame’ of the honour in a dishonourable way.

A high court bench comprising Chief Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice KK Trivedi yesterday issued a directive to Assistant Solicitor General to find out if there are any Supreme Court guidelines (do's and dont's) for Bharat Ratna awardees and get back to it in a week's time.

Naswah stated that Sachin has made many world records for the country in the game of cricket and is a popular figure but using the highest civilian award to promote commercial products and earn money was against the dignity, legacy and tenets of the award.


Naswah demanded that Sachin should be stripped by the government of the honour or he should himself return the award on moral grounds.

Sachin endorses more than 12 brands including Aviva Life Insurance, Boost (malt-based nutrition drink), MRF, Luminous and realtor Amit Enterprises. He retired from all forms of cricket in November 2013.

The story originally appeared on NDTV

Correction: An earlier version of the article had incorrectly noted that Tendulkar had retired last year. The error is regretted.
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