New Delhi: While hearing a batch of petitions seeking legal sanction to same-sex marriage, the Supreme Court on Tuesday orally observed that there is no absolute concept of a man or a woman and it cannot be only about the genitals, rather it is far more complex.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, submitted before a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud that there is a legislative intent that a marriage can only happen between a biological man and a biological woman, including Special Marriage Act.
Chief Justice Chandrachud told Mehta, “Very important judgement you are making. That very notion of a biological man is absolute and the notion of biological woman is also absolute…” Mehta said a biological man is a biological man and it is not a notion.
The Chief Justice said, “There is no absolute concept of a man or a woman at all…it cannot be the definition of what your genitals are, it is far more complex. Even when the Special Marriage Act (SMA) says man and woman, the very notion of a man and notion of a woman is not an absolute, based on what genitals you have….”
During the hearing, Mehta stressed that his preliminary objections against the maintainability of the petitions seeking same-sex marriage should be decided first and added that all states should be issued notices before a decision is made by the top court.
Mehta submitted that the institution of marriage affects personal laws. The Hindu Marriage Act is a codified personal law and Islam has their own personal law, and part of them is not codified. The bench – comprising justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S. Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli, and P.S. Narasimha – replied that it is not getting into personal laws.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing one of the petitioners seeking recognition of same-sex marriage, submitted that his clients seek a declaration that “we have a right to get married.” The counsel said the state will recognise that right under the Special Marriage Act and the marriage will be recognised by the state after the declaration of this court.
Rohatgi contended that this is because even now we are stigmatised, and this is even after the Article 377 judgment, and that the Special Marriage Act should mention ‘spouse’ instead of man and women.
Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for one of the parties in the matter opposing same-sex marriages, argued that marriage between man and woman is not a gift of law, but existed since time immemorial and marriages are necessary to perpetuate the human race itself. Dwivedi contended that even SMA has provisions reflective of personal laws and talks about different marriageable age for a man and a woman. How would one reconcile with these (who is man and who is woman)?
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal submitted that he is all for such relationships but is concerned about the societal severe consequences, which may follow after declaration and questioned, what happens if they adopt a child and later want to separate? Who gets maintenance?
Sibal stressed that if piecemeal arrangement is done then it will create more complications, which will hurt the community and in other countries where same-sex marriages were recognised, they overhauled the entire legal framework.
The arguments in the matter will continue after 2 p.m. The Centre has told the Supreme Court that the demand for same-sex marriage is a “mere urban elitist views for the purpose of social acceptance,” and recognising the right of same-sex marriage would mean a virtual judicial rewriting of an entire branch of law.
The Centre’s response came on a batch of petitions challenging certain provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act, Foreign Marriage Act and the Special Marriage Act and other marriage laws as unconstitutional on the ground that they deny same-sex couples the right to marry or alternatively to read these provisions broadly so as to include same-sex marriage.
I allowed myself to be encouraged by my father that the talent I have has no market in India. He was convinced that it is the USA where my talents would bloom. My younger brother was already settled. That is the only open society where you will find good bearing, he had advised. I took off from India with a blind stroke of a straight bat, hoping to continue after one stop in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, putting my USA dream on hold.
Being a master’s scholarship student of Urban Planning in the New Delhi’s prestigious ‘School of Planning and Architecture’ SPA with Housing as specialization I was confident of doing something worthwhile. The SPA Director’s vision was to make everyone in the class of 35 the best after two years of the master’s programme completion. Prior to my departure I had my own office with a colleague of SPA and a teaching job in Jawaharlal Technological University in Hyderabad. But I found myself on a blind date.
Before I proceed, a brief SPA experience would add value to my sojourn.
In SPA I got embroiled with a senior student from my own state, Andhra Pradesh. After my admission in SPA in an all-India competition, I arrived on time and was ushered into a good room in the SPA hostel on the top floor on a first come first serve basis.
However, it was not liked by our state’s favored senior student who had come late. He kept harassing me to vacate the room for him. Since I was young and new, I felt restive and wanted to see the Director for my problem. Before I could meet the Director, the registrar briefed him about my case and gave me only 5 to 10 minutes to explain him and move out of his room.
The Director was very kind and explained to me that since I come from a ‘Hyderabadi type’ of soft background, I need to get adjusted in whatever way I could to continue my studies. He was aware that I was among the top five candidates from all over India. He narrated his experience of London School of RIBA regarding his own roommate who incidentally also was a Hyderabadi but shy and self-composed.
The major lesson he gave me was to be the best. He made me stand for more than an hour to listen to his doctrine of making the SPA students the best. I returned to my room and moved over to the ground floor.
After that episode my approach to life became thoroughly professional which helped me to be assertive up-front and result oriented. I was someone that did not look back. I always succeeded.
My foreign journey predicament
I landed in the coastal city of Jeddah for Hajj with only 2.5-pound sterling which the travel agent gave me before boarding. He had taken all documents signed in return of my travel documents that included my foreign exchange. I took a taxi to a handwritten address of a relative after cajoling the taxi man for one pound and eating a sandwich for another one. I was left with 50 shillings (5X10) coins, which is still with me among my heritage travel bags.
The initial first week I fulfilled all the sacred rituals and got dropped in the night near a Hajjis travel lodging. In the scramble of all that I misplaced the location paper of my relative. There was no place to stay. At the same time I had fallen sick. I took refuge in the travel lodge’s basement parking area. I visited the nearby government clinic where I was given a handful of multi-coloured tablets to take with meals. For food, I would walk by any group eating together to be invited. They were nice religious people. They would often ask me to join them for food. After a couple of days, I became weaker but as luck would have it, I manage to locate the residence of my relatives who lived around the corner.
I was sick for a couple of more days. Still I enquired about the address of the downtown where I had been told that numerous offices are located. Suffering with fever and weakness, I decided to look for the downtown. I took to the street with my meager projects’ portfolios. I had to find a job to survive. I entered a newly built office mall called the “Queen’s Building” and went through the ‘Building Office Inventory’. There were many engineering and construction offices in the list. That gave me hopes of finding some job. My desperation was such that I was ready to take up even the job of a typist if it was available. I entered one office that reflected its cosmopolitan image. There some men and women working together.
At the reception I enquired about an architect’s job opening. The young woman receptionist looked at me from top (shaven head) to bottom (very lean thin person). Surprisingly, she dared to say that I did not look like an architect. I was flustered. I rebutted in English that ‘I am not here for a beauty contest.’ She was not expecting such an answer from a walk-in job seeker.
She said sheepishly that the architect-owner of ‘IDEA Center’ would come in a few minutes and that I can be seated. Soon after a young, tall and handsome Saudi gentleman walked in his traditional attire and asked the receptionist in an American accent to clear the entrance as he was expecting an important client soon. He looked at me and asked, ‘Who is this’?
She told him that I was a job seeker. He advised her to clear the place and make me sit somewhere inside with the staff. I went inside and took an empty seat near the drafting board with a person working on it.
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SV Reservation Center, RDQ Sketch Perspective Concept sketch designed on the flight to Saudi Arabia.
It took a good amount of time. The Saudi gentleman barged in again to ask the person working on the drafting board to hurry up. He made three more visits every time making more noise. I stood up gently to see what exactly that person was doing and read the nicely drawn presentation. While sitting next to the drafting board, I took my pad and started sketching as it was my habit.
The owner came again and this time he snatched the drawing off the drafting board. For the next few seconds he saw the sketch I had worked on and asked directly, “What is this?’
I said, “It is my version of the assignment he had given to that gentleman.” He suddenly said it was fantastic and went on to ask me whether I could give him that sketch. I handed him over the sketch.”
He vanished again inside his office.
A few minutes later the same receptionist who had doubts about my looks came hurriedly towards me. She had a pad and pencil in hand. She asked for my needs to design the sketch as a project. She also asked in what time I can finish the design.
With my responses, I found something which I had not expected at all. I was immediately appointed to the job. I was told to start working from the next day. With the speed of turn of events, I was in a shock.
Was this real or a dream? I asked myself.
The answer was no it was not. It was the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia running with lightening speed to become one of the most happening countries in the world.
I also ended up asking myself. Was it the way Saudi Arabia worked? Or was it my sheer luck?
Perhaps I was at that place at the right time.
I took it as a great opportunity and called my beginning there as ‘Instant Architecture’. My professional climb thereafter was based on the brand I subconsciously created as ‘Instant Architecture’, like instant tea which was getting marketed at that time. Ready to share and give architectural designs at any given situation. On hearing the requirements in any form my hand will start sketching the design as required.
SV HQ Bldg Jeddah KSA My Concept hand sketch design – Winning entry SV HQ Model
I owe appreciation of my work to my father who was the real super-visionary. He understood my potential and advised me to pursue my talents outside of India.
With a quirk of fate my architectural designs now grace great metropolises of India, the Middle East, Europe, and USA.
The self-belief helped me to design great architectures by traveling around the world in search of my identity.
In recent days I have given up active architectural design passion on persuasion of my children who proclaimed, “Enough is enough. You are not getting any younger.” They demanded that I spend more time with them. And that is what I am doing now.
My Dream HouseVilla Design – kept me in KSA SV Flight Trg Center, Jeddah Villa Design – kept me in KSA SV Flight Trg Center, Jeddah SV Jamia CTO Bldg, Jeddah SV Medical Center, Jeddah SV Medical Center, Jeddah
The article is a biographical narrative of Zahyr Siddiqi, a Hyderabad- born architect and urban planner who made his fortune in the Kingdom Saudi Arabia. He now lives in Chicago, IL, USA.
The Central government on Sunday opposed pleas in the Supreme Court over the recognition of same-sex marriage.
In a counter affidavit over the pleas, the Centre stated that decriminalising Section 377 IPC “cannot give rise to a claim to seek recognition for same-sex marriage”.
One petition, among the batch seeking the right to marry a person of one’s choice to be extended to LGBTQIA+ citizens, was filed by two gay men living in Hyderabad Supriyo Chakraborty and Abhay Dang.
It countered that living together of persons in same-sex relationships “cannot be compared to the Indian family concept of a husband, a wife and children born out of the union.”
The Centre added that the statutory recognition of marriage is limited to heterosexual in nature and is the norm throughout history and is foundational to both the existence and continuance of the State.
Mumbai: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday said the concept of “Seva” or service in Indian culture is much older than the idea of Corporate Social Responsibility.
He was speaking after the inauguration of Seva Bhavan, an institute set up to offer health services at subsidised rates by an organization affiliated to the RSS.
“What we call `Seva’ (service) is deeply rooted in our society, compared to the recent concept of Corporate Social Responsibility. Our outlook towards Seva is that we do not expect anything in return for it,” Bhagwat said.
“Seva is sometimes defined as service, but there (in case of service) you expect something in return. In our tradition of Seva, people not only face appreciation but (sometimes face) criticism and opposition as well,” he said.
Bhagwat also said that Dharma' as per Indian tradition is not rituals but duty. "The duty of humans isSeva’,” he added.
The concept of the women’s cricket Premier League will be a huge leap forward for women’s cricket in India and is very likely to have a positive impact on world cricket too. The format of the tournament has been well thought out and is likely to help more talent to emerge from the small towns and rural areas as well as the established cricket centres. For too long women’s cricket has been a poor cousin of the men’s version of the game and the Premier League for women is the first step to rectify this anomaly.
But amidst all the euphoria the organisers have to also take steps to guard against malpractices. As everyone knows, where there is big money there are big crooks. The men’s IPL has been hit by match fixing and spot fixing issues from time to time. Now that big money is coming into women’s cricket too and there will be increased interest by spectators and sponsors, there is a strong likelihood that crooked elements will make an attempt to put their sticky fingers into the jackpot here as well.
It would be tragic for all sports if our talented women players are lured by money to cross the thin line dividing honesty and dishonesty. Earlier, in the wake of the 2013 spot-fixing and betting scandal, which rocked the cricket world, three cricketers namely S. Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were arrested by the Delhi Police. Two teams, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, were suspended for two years.
However it seems that the lessons of the 2013 IPL were quickly forgotten. The malady cropped up again last year. The CBI booked seven suspected punters in connection with two separate cases related to the alleged fixing of 2019 IPL matches “based on inputs” from Pakistan. A few days before the start of the IPL 2022, the former Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor confessed that he was asked to fix matches by Indian businessmen.
So it is clear that bookies and underworld characters are closely watching all developments in cricket. There is no doubt that they will also try to interfere with women’s cricket now because of all the money flowing and attention into the game. This is an aspect that the BCCI watchdogs must carefully guard against. If all goes well, cricket fans can look forward to some exciting contests between the women players.
It was in October 2022, that the BCCI announced that it was planning to conduct a five-team tournament which would take place in March 2023. The new tournament was informally known as the Women’s Indian Premier League. However, the name was later changed to simply Women’s Premier League. The tournament is scheduled to be held from March 4 to 26 and will feature 22 matches at the Brabourne Stadium and DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.
At the recently concluded player auction, India’s Smriti Mandhana and England all-rounder Natalie Sciver-Brunt struck it rich. Royal Challengers Bangalore coughed up Rs 3.40 crore to sign Smriti Mandhana. The hard hitting batter is already in the highest bracket in India’s central contract for women cricketers with an annual retainership of Rs 50 lakh.
Natalie Sciver-Brunt joined Mumbai Indians, coached by former England captain Charlotte Edwards, for Rs. 3.20 crore. This is a huge sum even for an overseas player. It is ten times more than the highest salary in the Women’s Hundred competition in England. With so much money being offered, India will soon become the world centre for women’s cricket just as it has become for the men’s version.
In the first season, all matches will be played in Mumbai on two grounds namely the Brabourne stadium and the DY Patil stadium. But as the tournament expands over the next few years, it will be necessary to add more cities in the list. So the day is not far off when Hyderabad will become part of the show and fans in Hyderabad will be able to witness live, the hard fought matches of the women’s Premier League.
