The 5 Men And Women Who Challenged Ban On Homosexuality
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today has said homosexuality is not a crime in India. The top court pronounced its verdict on petitions challenging the colonial-era Section 377 that criminalises consensual gay sex. In 2013, the Supreme Court had cancelled a Delhi high court order that had decriminalized homosexuality, by overturning the outdated law, saying it was up to parliament to take a call on scrapping laws. Five celebrities, in 2016, petitioned the Supreme Court to reconsider its own ruling. Chief Justice Dipak Misra, who headed the five judge bench hearing the case said,"Respect for each others rights is supreme humanity. Criminalising gay sex is irrational and indefensible."
1. Navtej Singh Johar, 59, is a renowned classical dancer and winner of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, who had petitioned the Supreme Court along with his partner of 25 years and said that Section 377 violated the right to life and personal liberty guaranteed by the constitution. Mr Johar is a visiting faculty at the Ashoka University.
2. Sunil Mehra, 63, is a journalist and the former editor of the Indian edition of Maxim magazine. He is an actor and exponent of dastangoi, a 13th century form of storytelling. He has directed, produced, written and anchored 'Centrestage' on Doordarshan. Along with Navtej Singh Johar, his partner of over two decades, he has co-founded Studio Abhyas.
3. Ritu Dalmia, 45, is a celebrity chef and owner of the niche restaurant chain Diva. She has written several books and has also hosted food shows on television. Born in Kolkata to a Marwari business family, Ms Dalmia joined her family business when she was a teenager. A globe trotter, Ms Dalmia specialized in Italian cuisine. She has written travelogues and many cookbooks. One of her bestsellers is Travelling Diva: Recipes from around the World in 2012.
4. Aman Nath, 61, is the owner of the Neemrana chain of hotels. Passionate about history and architecture, Aman Nath has written several books on history and arts. He is also a poet and a prolific writer, who has co-written and authored 13 illustrated books on art, history, architecture and photography. Aman Nath's work was the first Indian book chosen by Christie's for worldwide distribution.
5. Ayesha Kapur, 44, is a businesswoman associated with the food and beverages industry.
courtesy : ndtv.com
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ED searches Empuraan producer Gopalan's chit fund firm in FEMA case
New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted searches at the chit fund company premises of Kerala-based businessman Gokulam Gopalan, one of the producers of the movie "L2: Empuraan", as part of an alleged Rs 1,000 crore foreign exchange violation case, official sources said.
The searches are being undertaken at five premises in various states, including in Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Kochi (Kerala), under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), the sources said.
The action is being undertaken against Gopalan and his company Sree Gopalan chit and Finance Co. Ltd. for alleged FEMA violations of Rs 1,000 crore with certain NRIs and some related "unauthorised" transactions, the sources.
The agency is also understood to be analysing some "cheating" cases against the company for possible investigation under the anti-money laundering law.
"L2: Empuraan", the second part of the "Lucifer" movie, a trilogy planned by the Prithviraj-Mohanlal team, has become a topic of hot debate over its critique of right-wing politics and the covert mention of the Gujarat riots.
Mohanlal recently expressed regret over the raging row and assured that the controversial portions would be removed from the movie.
