By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net
Bhopal: India’s master blaster Sachin Tendulkar was reportedly served notice on Saturday for allegedly insulting the national tricolour by a court in Indore, the financial capital of Madhya Pradesh.
While accepting the review petition filed by Rajesh Bidekar, the Additional Sessions Court of Mohammad Shamim has served a notice to the renowned cricket player. The court has asked him to file a reply before December 15.
Earlier, after a television channel reported that Sachin had cut a cake in the colours of the national flag during the Indian team’s stay in the West Indies a few months ago, a PIL was filed against him in an Indore court by Bhartiya Janashakti Party (BJS) leader Rajesh Bidekar.
His counsel Rajendra Sharma had filed the petition under Section 2 of the Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act of 1971 before the court of Judicial Magistrate (FC) Uday Singh Maravi. However, the Indore court had rejected the petition on June 26, 2007.
Later, Bidekar had filed a review petition before the court of Additional Sessions Judge Mohammad Shamim. While accepting the review petition the court had issued a notice to cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar and asked him to submit his reply by December 15.
Activists of the Youth Congress led by Tantoo Sharma and others had also taken to the streets in protest. They reportedly set Tendulkar’s posters on fire at the GPO Square as a mark of protest. Sharma had demanded an apology from Tendulkar for his reported act, especially in view of the fact that the cricketer has great regard for his country.
The convenor of Tiranga Abhiyan, an NGO, Ravi Atrolia had demanded unconditional apology from Tendulkar for allegedly disrespecting the national flag. Atrolia said that if he failed to tender an apology then his organisation would take legal recourse as it had done in the past against various film personalities.
However, almost every member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, (BCCI), had supported Sachin’s stand for his alleged involvement in the controversy. Even the Union Minister of State for Home, Sriprakash Jaiswal had said that in all probability it was unintentional. ([email protected])