Kohli guides India to 279/7 against WI in 2nd ODI
Port-of-Spain, Aug 11: Virat Kohli led from the front with a fine century, his 42nd of the career, to guide India to 279 for seven against the West Indies in the second ODI of the three-match series against the West Indies here on Sunday.
Coming on to bat in the fourth ball of the innings, Kohli played aggressively and scored 120 off 125 balls to guide India's innings. He hit 14 boundaries and one six during his elegant knock.
Besides Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (71 off 68) struck third half-century of his career and together with his skipper shared 125 runs for the fourth wicket to take India to a comfortable position.
But it was far from rosy for India at the start as after opting to bat, they lost Shikhar Dhawan in the third ball of the innings, caught plumb in front of the wicket by Sheldon Cottrell.
Then came in skipper Kohli and in the company of Rohit Sharma (18) played fluently to stabilise the Indian innings.
While Kohli looked in great nick from the onset, Rohit struggled to rotate the strike and played the second fiddle.
Kohli played some delightful shots through the covers and off his pads to register his 55th ODI fifty with an outside edge past West Indies keeper Shai Hope off Carlos Brathwaite (3/53) in the 15th over.
But Rohit's struggle finally came to an end when he sliced a Roston Chase delivery to Nicholas Pooran, who took a fine catch at point while running backwards.
The duo shared 74 runs for the second wicket off 90 balls.
Rishabh Pant made 20 off 35 balls with the help of two boundaries before inexperience did him in.
Bogged down by 12 dots off 14 balls, an inexperienced Pant went for an ugly slog across the line over midwicket off Brathwaite only to find his timbers disturbed as India were reduced to 101 for 3.
Kohli and Iyer then played aggressively and milked the West Indian bowlers to keep the scoreboard ticking.
The duo rotated the strike and found the fence when bad deliveries were on offer.
But hot and humid conditions got the better of Kohli in the 42nd over as the Indian skipper played a tired-looking shot only to be holed by Kemar Roach at long-off off Brathwaite.
Iyer played a good knock before some brilliant bowling from West Indies skipper Jason Holder got the better of him. Iyer was bowled around his legs as he went across the stumps for an extravagant shot. He hit five boundaries and one six during his knock.
But West Indies came back strongly in the last 10 overs to peg back the Indians with some clever bowling display.
Comfortably placed at 212 for 3, the Indians could only manage 67 runs for the loss of four wickets in the last 10 overs.
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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.
