Sachin Tendulkar faces PIL to return Bharat Ratna for appearing in TV commercials

Sachin Tendulkar was awarded the Bharat Ratna last year

Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar might have to return his Bharat Ratna after a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed against him in the Madhya Pradesh High Court for allegedly misusing the prestigious honour by appearing in commercial advertisements on television. 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.

Bhopal-based VK Naswah, who is the petitioner in this case, 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 argued.

This is not the first time that Tendulkar has found himself in hot water regarding the matter, with a Mumbai-based NGO having written a letter to him last year asking him to not endorse commercial products on television.

The 42-year-old endorses more than 12 brands at the moment; some of the prominent ones being Aviva Life Insurance, Boost, MRF amongst others.

Tendulkar, who retired from international cricket in November 2013 after enjoying an illustrious 24-year international career, became the first sportsperson to receive the Bharat Ratna when the award was conferred on him last February. He 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.