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They are grown-ups’: Allahabad HC cancels case against Muslim man by wife’s parents

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4 years ago

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They are grown-ups’: Allahabad HC cancels case against Muslim man by wife’s parents

The Allahabad High Court has thrown out a case filed against a Muslim man by the parents of his wife, who converted from Hinduism to Islam last year to marry him. The right to choose a partner irrespective of caste, creed or religion is intrinsic to the constitutional right to life and personal liberty, the high court held, adding that two previous judgments that objected to religious conversion for the purpose of marriage didn’t lay down good law.

The bench, comprising justice Pankaj Naqvi and justice Vivek Agarwal, was hearing a petition by Salamat Ansari and Priyanka Kharwar alias Alia to quash a police complaint against them by the woman’s father. The petitioners contended they were both majors and competent to choose their life partners. The court agreed with the petitioners, both residents of Kushinagar district.

“We do not see Priyanka Kharwar and Salamat as Hindu and Muslim, rather as two grown-up individuals who out of their own free will and choice are living together peacefully and happily over a year,” the bench held. “An individual on attaining majority is statutorily conferred a right to choose a partner, which if denied would not only affect his/her human right but also his/her right to life and personal liberty, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India,” observed the bench.

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The decision by the two-judge bench, delivered on November 11 but made public on Monday, may pose a legal problem for the Uttar Pradesh government, which is planning a law to regulate interfaith relationships on the basis of the two previous judgments that were both delivered by single-judge benches.

The judges held that any interference in a personal relationship would constitute a “serious encroachment” on the right to freedom of choice. “We fail to understand that if the law permits two persons even of the same sex to live together peacefully then neither any individual nor a family nor even state can have an objection to the relationship of two major individuals who out of their own free will are living together,” the verdict said.

The judgment also contradicted two previous judgments – one delivered in 2014 and the other in 2020 – that said that religious conversion only for the sake of marriage was not valid under law. “We hold the judgments in the Noor Jahan and Priyanshi (cases) as not laying good law. None of these judgments dealt with the issue of life and liberty of two matured individuals in choosing a partner or their right to freedom of choice as to with whom they would like to live,” the two-judge bench held.

In the Noor Jahan case, the HC had dismissed a batch of writ petitions asking for protection of a married couple where the woman converted from Hinduism to Islam. In the Priyanshi case, a Muslim woman converted to marry a Hindu man, and the couple approached the court for police protection.

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Shortly after the high court passed the judgment in the second case in October, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced that his government was planning a law to regulate “love jihad”, a term used by right-wing Hindu activists to describe relationships between Hindu woman and Muslim men.

These activists allege that Muslim men “lure” gullible women for conversion, though experts say adult men and women are free to convert for relationships, and the central government told Parliament in February that there was no definition of the term and no such cases were reported by agencies. Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, all ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are also considering similar laws.

In the current case, the petitioners sought quashing of a first information report lodged on August 25, 2019, for alleged kidnapping, assault and other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. The petitioners said they were living together as a couple peacefully for one year and the FIR – filed by the woman’s father – was aimed at ending the marriage. Counsel for the woman’s father opposed the petition and cited the 2014 and 2020 judgments, arguing that conversion only for the sake of marriage is prohibited and such marriages had no sanctity in law.

The judges dismissed that argument. “To disregard the choice of a person who is of the age of majority would not only be antithetic to the freedom of choice of a grown-up individual but would also be a threat to the concept of unity in diversity.”

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Also Read : UP ISSUED GUIDELINES FOR MARRIAGE AND OTHER CEREMONIES; MAXIMUM GUEST LIMIT 100

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HT Rewind 2024: Teja Sajja says HanuMan kicking off the year in style is the moment he’d been ‘waiting for’ | Exclusive

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December 21, 2024

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HT Rewind 2024: Teja Sajja says HanuMan kicking off the year in style is the moment he’d been ‘waiting for’ | Exclusive

In conversation with Hindustan Times, Teja Sajja decodes the success of HanuMan and other Telugu films, talks about his upcoming projects, and more.
When Prasanth Varma’s superhero film HanuMan, starring Teja Sajja, was announced to be released alongside big films like Mahesh Babu’s Guntur Kaaram, Venkatesh’s Saindhav and Nagarjuna’s Naa Saami Ranga in January this year, no one expected the underdog to emerge on top. And yet, the film, made on a budget of under ₹50 crore, managed to collect over ₹300 crore at the box office worldwide in 25 days, becoming one of the highest-grossing Indian films for the year. (Also Read: Ranveer Singh met HanuMan actor Teja Sajja, complimented him even after his Prasanth Varma film Rakshas got shelved)

Ask Teja about the moment he realised his film had not just fought against the tide but also risen to the top; he tells Hindustan Times in an exclusive conversation, “Since I returned to acting (as a lead actor after being a child artiste since 1998), this is the moment I’ve been waiting for. When everything from the HanuMan teaser to the songs was grabbing attention, we knew we had hit a gold mine. But I don’t think we imagined it would cross the ₹300 crore threshold. We were so satisfied with the opening numbers; everything else was a bonus.”

‘Success has given me fear of disappointing people’

Teja acted in Zombie Reddy, Ishq and Adbhutham before HanuMan, but they are what you would call ‘critical successes’, adding to his repertoire as an actor who can perform. But things have changed for him now, says Teja, who is being picky about the roles he says yes to. “Success either makes you overconfident or gives you the fear of disappointing people; I have the latter,” he explains.

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Teja admits he wants to chart out his career in Hrithik Roshan’s footsteps, but not in the way you think. “I have such a fondness for Hrithik due to Koi Mil Gaya and Krrish. No matter how well he performed after that, these left a lasting impression on me; I’m sure 90s kids will agree,” he says, adding, “Similarly, I’ve realised that I have an audience in children now. I want to be conscious of that when I pick roles. I want to make films families can enjoy together.”

But despite people in places like Mumbai or Delhi recognising him, Teja says he’s clear that he wants to cater to the Telugu audience first. “I am conscious that I am making films for my playground – the Telugu states. This is the sensibility I have grown up with, and I don’t know if I can cater to everyone else. Will I promote my films in other languages? Sure. But I also can’t be part of films that aren’t authentic to what I know or understand,” he explains.

‘Rootedness has put us on the world map’

And authenticity seems to be the need of the hour. Be it Baahubali and RRR or the recently released Pushpa 2: The Rule, Kalki 2898 AD and Devara: Part 1, certain kind of stories seem to be finding success. “Rootedness and going local is proving to be such a boon for us, be it in Devara or Pushpa or HanuMan. Kalki 2898 AD was our version of a Hollywood film (the sci-fi concept) with actors from across languages in predominant roles; it put us on the world map,” reflects Teja.

However, the actor admits Tollywood went through a phase of Bollywood-inspired rom-coms and family dramas that worked in their favour for a while. “That wasn’t easy to replicate either, but it’s just that these local stories are what the audience seems most interested in now. It can’t just be chalked up to religion, too. It’s about the morals these films are hinged on, the fighting for righteousness, and how an underdog can find their strength. Introducing Mahabharata or Ramayana to a new audience in a cool way is just a perk,” he says.

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And it’s this rootedness that Teja says his next films, Mirai and Jai Hanuman (the sequel to HanuMan), will also have ample of. “Mirai is also a superhero film that caters to kids, but it’s not an origin story like HanuMan. It has a pan-Asian and Buddhist touch because the story is based on King Ashoka’s ideologies. I hope that I will get to deliver something new to the audience again. I will only feel like I’ve arrived if Mirai is equally, if not more, successful,” says Teja.

Rishab Shetty will headline Jai Hanuman, but Teja also looks forward to shooting that. “I can’t wait to be on that set; it’ll be exciting. Now that we know India is ready to watch our films, I want to step it up. I want to shift gears and shoot for at least two films in 2025,” he says. As for what he will do next, Teja says he wants to up the ante. “When I got a SIIMA award for Zombie Reddy as a debutant, I remember telling Prasanth this would be the last award I get. But now that I won a Radio City Cine Award for Best Actor, I hope more awards will follow,” he signs off cheekily.

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