Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum retires from all forms of cricket
Auckland: Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum announced his retirement from all forms of competitive cricket after the conclusion of the ongoing Global T20 Canada terming his journey as "one hell of a ride".
McCullum, who is playing for Toronto Nationals, had retired from all forms of international cricket in 2016 but continued to ply his trade in various T20 leagues across the globe.
The 37-year-old former Blac Caps skipper has played 101 Tests in which he scored 6453 runs with 12 hundreds and highest score of 302. In 260 ODIs, he scored 6083 runs with five hundreds while 71 T20 Internationals fetched him 2140 runs.
However he has a staggering T20 career (all leagues included) as he scored 9922 runs 370 games so far.
"It is with pride and satisfaction that I am today announcing my retirement from all cricket following the conclusion of the GT20 Canada. I now won't be playing in the Euro T20 Slam and I sincerely thank the organisers for their support and understanding of my decision," McCullum an official statement on his twitter page.
"As much as I am proud of what I have achieved in my 20-year professional career -- more than I ever could have dreamt of when I first entered the game -- I felt the drive to keep going, harder to maintain in recent months," said McCullum, who was one of the commentators during last month's ICC World Cup.
No one can ever forget McCullum's magnificent 158 not out off 73 balls for Kolkata Knight Riders against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opening game of the first edition of IPL - an innings that was instrumental in the league gaining instant popularity.
"My style of cricket has always been full noise and full throttle. From Culling Park to Lord's and everything in between, there has been some wonderful memories. Unfortunately, the sacrifices needed and commitment required to play that type of cricket have now become too great. I owe it to myself and the teams I represent to close that chapter rather than plough on regardless of what I know to be true," McCullum further added.
The dasher from Canterbury is extremely proud for the manner in which he played the game. He was trailblazer in his own right and is happy that the Kiwis broke boundaries during his tenure in international cricket.
"With New Zealand, we broke boundaries and established a style of play that earned us respect across the world. In T20 cricket, I have enjoyed so many varied challenges, I can leave the game knowing I left no stone unturned.
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SC dismisses pleas seeking review of 2023 verdict declining legal sanction to same-sex marriage
New Delhi, Jan 9: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a batch of pleas seeking to review its October 2023 verdict declining legal sanction to same-sex marriage.
A five-judge bench of Justices B R Gavai, Surya Kant, B V Nagarathna, P S Narasimha and Dipankar Datta took up about 13 petitions related to the matter in chambers and dismissed them.
"We do not find any error apparent on the face of the record. We further find that the view expressed in both the judgements is in accordance with law and as such, no interference is warranted. Accordingly, the review petitions are dismissed," the bench said.
It said the judges have carefully gone through the judgements delivered by Justice (since retired) S Ravindra Bhat speaking for himself and for Justice (since retired) Hima Kohli as well as the concurring opinion expressed by Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha, constituting the majority view.
The bench also rejected a prayer made in the review petitions for hearing in an open court.
According to practice, the review pleas are considered in chambers by the judges.
The new bench was constituted after Justice Sanjiv Khanna, the present CJI, recused from hearing the review petitions on July 10, 2024.
Notably, Justice P S Narasimha is the only member of the original Constitution bench comprising five judges which delivered the verdict, as former CJI D Y Chandrachud and Justices S K Kaul, Ravindra Bhat and Hima Kohli have retired.
A five-judge Constitution bench led by then CJI Chandrachud on October 17, 2024, refused to accord legal backing to same-sex marriages and held there was "no unqualified right" to marriage with the exception of those recognised by law.
The apex court, however, made a strong pitch for the rights of LGBTQIA++ persons so that they didn't face discrimination in accessing goods and services available to others, safe houses known as "garima greh" in all districts for shelter to members of the community facing harassment and violence, and dedicated hotlines in case of trouble.
In its judgement, the bench held transpersons in heterosexual relationships had the freedom and entitlement to marry under the existing statutory provisions.
It said an entitlement to legal recognition of the right to union, akin to marriage or civil union, or conferring legal status to the relationship could be only done through an "enacted law".
The five-judge Constitution bench delivered four separate verdicts on a batch of 21 petitions seeking legal sanction for same-sex marriages.
All five judges were unanimous in refusing the legal recognition to same-sex marriage under the Special Marriage Act and observed it was within Parliament's ambit to change the law for validating such a union.
While former CJI Chandrachud wrote a separate 247-page verdict, Justice Kaul penned a 17-page judgement where he broadly agreed with the former's views.
Justice Bhat, who authored an 89-page judgement for himself and Justice Kohli, disagreed with certain conclusions arrived at by the former CJI, including on applicability of adoption rules for such couples.
Justice Narasimha in his 13-page verdict was in complete agreement with the reasoning and conclusion of Justice Bhat.
The judges were unanimous in holding that queerness was a natural phenomenon and not an "urban or elite" notion.
In his judgement, the former CJI recorded Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's assurance of forming a committee chaired by the cabinet secretary to define and elucidate the scope of entitlements of such couples in a union.
The LGBTQIA++ rights activists, who won a major legal battle in 2018 in the Supreme Court, which decriminalised consensual gay sex, moved the apex court seeking validation of same-sex marriages and consequential reliefs such as rights to adoption, enrolment as parents in schools, opening of bank accounts and availing succession and insurance benefits.
Some of the petitioners sought the apex court to use its plenary power besides the "prestige and moral authority" to push the society to acknowledge such a union and ensure LGBTQIA++ persons led a "dignified" life like heterosexuals.
