PIL against Sachin Tendulkar: Time to ignore the moral preachers

A Bhopal-based petitioner on Thursday filed a ​Public Interest Litigation (​PIL​)​ demanding the surrender ​of ​Sachin Tendulkar​’s Bharat Ratna​ on grounds that he was appearing in TV commercials. VK Naswah​, the petitioner​, alleges Tendulkar of misusing the honour by appearing in commercial advertisements. He demands either the government should take back the award or the cricketer should return it on moral ground.

​T​he question is​: Do we really need more of these moral preachers in India, who ​seek reflected glory through the PIL route? The country is already infested with its own problems and there are zillions of important cases which are still pending in courts. In this grave situation, it’s silly to waste an important institutions time with such PILs.
​What is Naswah’s problem? Does he not like the brands Tendulkar endorses? Or,​does he have a problem with Tendulkar’s ballooning bank balance? The brands ​Tendulkar endorses have the required permission from Government of India to run their businesses. So be it a Bharat Ratna awardee or your next-door neighbour, they have the right to buy it or promote it. And if ​the endorser is making money out of it, ​why should there be a problem​ as long as there is no evasion of income tax?
Celebrities are the softest of targets and attention seekers strike their knives on them looking to penetrate deep, either for their little moment of glory or​ ​​purely for​ ​sadistic pleasure. It’s time the legal institutions take a stand against​ ​​such nuisance.

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Meanwhile, as per reports in ABP, the court directed assistant solicitor general to find out whether there are any Supreme Court guidelines that bar Tendulkar from appearing in TV commercials. How well the precious time is utilised, isn’t it?

(Suvajit Mustafi consumes cricket for lunch, fiction for dinner and munches numerous other snacks throughout the day. Yes, a jack of several trades , all Suvajit dreamt of was being India’s World Cup winning skipper but ended up being a sports writer, author, screenwriter, director, copywriter, graphic designer, sportsmarketer , strategist, entrepreneur,  philosopher and traveller. Donning so many hats, it’s cricket which gives him the ultimate high and where he finds solace. He can be followed at @RibsGully and rivu7)

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