Tendulkar meets Jammu and Kashmir para cricket team captain, calls him a 'real hero, an inspiration'
Srinagar, Feb 24: Jammu and Kashmir Para cricket team captain Amir Hussain Lone is a 'real hero and an inspiration', legendary Sachin Tendulkar said on Saturday after he met the differently-abled sportsman during his trip to the valley.
Tendulkar posted a video of his interaction with Lone on his social media accounts and wrote, "to Amir, the real hero. Keep inspiring! It was a pleasure meeting you".
Tendulkar invited Lone to his hotel where he greeted him with a hug and also gifted him his autographed bat.
Tendulkar told Lone that after he watched his video, which had gone viral last month, he wanted to meet the para cricketer.
"I never lost hope in my life. I always thought and kept in mind that I have to fulfil my dream," Lone told Tendulkar.
Lone narrated his journey to Tendulkar, calling the former international cricketer his inspiration. "Where I am today is all because of you sir. You have been my biggest inspiration," he said.
Tendulkar told Lone, "What you have achieved cannot be achieved by anyone else".
"When an eight-year old child suffers from such a trauma, overcoming that and then later in life becoming an inspiration for others, is a huge achievement," Tendulkar said, adding "perhaps, you do not know what you have done".
Tendulkar gifted him an autographed bat, saying "you may perhaps like it".
The bat had a message which said "Amir, the real hero. Keep inspiring".
He then asked Lone to show his batting stance which the differently-abled obliged.
Later, Tendulkar met Lone's family and told them he was very happy to have met the J&K para cricket team captain.
He also posed for a photograph with Lone's family and friends.
Last month, after his video went viral, Tendulkar said on X that he wanted to meet Lone.
"And Amir has made the impossible possible. I am so touched watching this! Shows how much love and dedication he has for the game. Hope I get to meet him one day and get a jersey with his name. Well done for inspiring millions who are passionate about playing the sport," he posted on X.
To Amir, the real hero. Keep inspiring!
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) February 24, 2024
It was a pleasure meeting you. pic.twitter.com/oouk55lDkw
And Amir has made the impossible possible. I am so touched watching this! Shows how much love and dedication he has for the game.
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) January 12, 2024
Hope I get to meet him one day and get a jersey with his name. Well done for inspiring millions who are passionate about playing the sport. https://t.co/s5avOPXwYT
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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.
