India's triple treat: Toor, Jyothi, Harmilan bag gold at Asian Indoor Athletics Championships
Tehran, Feb 17: Ace shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor and hurdler Jyothi Yarraji rewrote their national records, while long distance sensation Harmilan Bains sizzled on the track as India grabbed three gold medals on the opening day of the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships here on Saturday.
Two-time Asian Games gold medallist Toor hurled the shot put at a distance of 19.72 metres in his second attempt for a new national indoor record.
Kazakhstan's Ivanov Ivan (19.08m) and Iran's Mehdi Saberi (18.74m) took the silver and bronze medals respectively.
Earlier, Jyothi Yarraji marginally bettered her own national record by clocking 8.12s in the women's 60m hurdles to win the gold.
The 2022 Asian Games silver medallist in the 100m hurdles had the previous best timing of 8:13s at the same event last year which had earned her a runner-up finish.
The 24-year-old athlete topped her heat with a timing of 8:22s and in the final she did better to finish ahead of Japan's Asuka Tereda (8.21s).
Lui Lai Yiu of Hong Kong (8:26s) took the third place on the podium.
Jyothi is the reigning Asian Outdoor champion in the 100m hurdles, having won the title in Bangkok last year.
She had returned with a silver in the 100m hurdles from Hangzhou Asian Games after initially being disqualified.
Asian Games silver medallist Harmilan Bains blazed the track with a timing of 4:29.55 seconds to bag India's first gold of the day in the women's 1500m.
Harmilan exhibited sheer dominance, finishing over five seconds ahead of her nearest competitor, Kyrgyzstan's Kalil Kyzy Ainuska, who clinched the silver medal with a time of 4:35.29.
The third position was claimed by Kazakhstan's Bolatbekkyzy Aiana, crossing the finish line in 4:37.20.
She finished more than five seconds ahead of Kyrgyzstan's Kalil Kyzy Ainuska who bagged the silver with a timing of 4:35.29. Kazakhstan's Bolatbekkyzy Aiana came third clocking 4:37.20.
Shaili Singh and Nayana James also competed in the women's long jump final in the morning session, but failed to get podium positions, registering distances of 6.27m and 6.23m for fifth and sixth place finishes respectively.
Shiqi Xiong (6.55m) and Tan Mengyi (6.50m) of China had the gold-silver, while Hong Kong's Yue Nga Yan (6.35m) bagged the bronze.
Toor was the only Indian athlete to finish on top of the podium at last year's meet in Astana where the country had won a total of eight medals including six silver and one bronze.
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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.
