India welcome to collect Asia Cup from me at ACC office: Mohsin Naqvi
Dubai, Oct 1 (PTI): Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Wednesday said the Indian team is "welcome" to collect the Asia Cup trophy from him at the continental body's office head office here as controversy around the champions being denied the top prize continued to rage.
In a post on X, Naqvi rejected reports claiming that he, at the ACC AGM on Tuesday, apologised to BCCI officials for his actions at the presentation ceremony on Sunday when he walked away with the trophy after the Indians refused to accept it from him.
Naqvi is also the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman and interior minister of his country with a pronounced anti-India political position.
"As ACC President, I was ready to hand over the trophy that very day and I am still ready now. If they truly want it, they are welcome to come to the ACC office and collect it from me," he wrote.
"Let me make it absolutely clear: I have done nothing wrong and I have never apologised to the BCCI nor will I ever do so," he added.
Ashish Shelar and Rajeev Shukla had represented the BCCI in the ACC AGM where they raised a strong objection over the trophy not being duly handed over to the Suryakumar Yadav-led side which beat Pakistan in the final.
Naqvi had told the BCCI officials on Tuesday that he was ready to give the trophy to the Indian team. However, no decision on that issue was taken in the AGM, upsetting the BCCI top brass further.
The BCCI will take the matter to the ICC which will have its meeting in November.
The two teams played each other thrice in the tournament with India winning each time, including the final. India maintained a 'no handshake policy' with Pakistan players during the event, infuriating the PCB.
The hostilities between the two neighbours are at an all-time high after the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 Indian tourists were gunned down by Pakistan-backed terrorists.
India had subsequently launched military action under 'Operation Sindoor' to dismantle terror infrastructure across the border.
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SC notice to Centre on PIL against Muslim personal law sections being 'discriminatory' against women
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday sought the Centre's response on a PIL challenging the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, on the ground that those are allegedly discriminatory against women.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Panchol took note of the submissions made by lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who appeared in the matter for petitioners Poulomi Pavini Shukla and the Nyaya Naari Foundation, and issued a notice to the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs.
The plea says the current Shariat inheritance rules are "manifestly discriminatory" against women, often granting them only half or less of the share allocated to their male counterparts.
Bhushan said the 1937 Act violates Article 14 (right to equality) of the Constitution.
He said matters of succession are civil in nature and do not constitute an "essential religious practice" protected under Article 25.
"Saying women will get half or even less than half compared to male counterparts is discriminatory," the lawyer said.
