Can we remove Microsoft .NET Framework from our sql server 2008 SP3?

We have Sql server 2008 SP3 on Windows 2012 R2 server. There are two nodes in a failover Active/Passive cluster. The server has .NET Framework 4.5.1. The sql server does not have SSRS or anything else that in my opinion may need the .NET Framework.

Not sure if the .NET Framework gets installed with the windows operating system 2012 R2 installation or if it was installed by someone separately later.

Does the Sql server 2008 engine need the .NET Framework? Can we just uninstall it?

Read somewhere that Sql server 2008 needs .NET Framework 3.5.

If for some reason it is mandatory to have .NET Framework on the sql server machine, can we update to 4.6.1 or will it have an impact on Sql server 2008.

Thanks,