HC dismisses PIl against Tendulkar's Bharat Ratna

The High Court (HC) on Monday dismissed a petition that was filed against legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, alleging that he was misusing Bharat Ratna in commercial advertisements.The two-member bench comprising justice Rajendra Menon and justice SK Gupta citing it as a matter beyond HC's jurisdiction and advised the petitioner to raise his problem with the union government, as per the report in Times of India. We cannot interfere in this matter, court ruled while dismissing the petition.

Earlier, the MP court had admitted the petition, on June 18 this year, seeking stripping of the Bharat Ratna awarded to the cricket icon for allegedly using the “fame” of the honour in “earning money by endorsing commercial products”.

The petitioner V K Naswah, a resident of Bhopal, had stated that Sachin was a popular figure as had accomplished many a world record in the game of cricket for the country. Naswah accused Sachin of exploiting the “fame” of the highest civilian award to promote commercial products and earn money which he said was against the dignity, legacy, and tenets of the highest civilian award.

Naswah had said that Sachin should return the award on moral ground and if he fails to do so the central government should strip him of the honour. VK Naswah, the petitioner, had said that Tendulkar exploited the fame associated with the highest civilian award for "earning money by endorsing commercial products" and therefore it should be taken away. Master Blaster retired from all forms of cricket last November 2013.