The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the National Investigative Agency (NIA) to probe a love jihad case of a Hindu girl converting to Islam and marrying a Muslim man.
In May the Kerala High Court had declared the particular marriage between the girl and a man named Shafin Jahan null and void on the petition of her father Ashokan, who is a retired army-man. The girl now named Hadiya used to be a homeopathy student when she converted and changed her name. The girl was reportedly given away in marriage by her guardian named Sainaba and her husband.
The father had then alleged that she was forced to convert after being abducted and wrongly confined at an illegal Islamic conversion centre before her so called marriage on December 19th 2016. There were further alleged that the Sathya Sarani girls hostel, the illegal conversion centre in question and was run by the Popular Front of India, which was founded by the leaders of the terrorist organisation SIMI.
The Kerala High Court had then stated that the marriage was a sham and had no standing in front of the law. The court then had also granted the custody of the girl to her parents and directed the police to provide protection to the family.
The husband in question had then knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court to challenge the annulment of his marriage. He was represented by eminent lawyers named Kapil Sibal and Indira Jaising. According to Sibal, the girl had converted to Islam before she had met the boy via a matrimonial site. The lawyers also insisted the girl in question be brought in front of the court.
The Supreme Court had then sought the response of the NIA in the matter before scheduling the next hearing on 16th August. The Court had also directed the Kerala Police to hand over the files related to the case to the NIA.
The NIA today stated that this matter didn’t appear to be an isolated case and the CJI too concurred with it and stated that this was also the view of the Kerala High Court. NIA’s Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh also stated that there was a pattern about girls leaving their home due to differences and someone then giving them shelter. He also alleged that the two outfits involved in this were linked to SIMI.
The husband’s counsel Kapil Sibal though desperately tried to oppose an NIA probe into the matter. He first stated that the crime branch’s investigation into the matter was not complete which the court rebuffed. Sibal then even tried to question NIA’s credibility.
The court didn’t pay heed and after ordering the investigation, directed the NIA to furnish a report in the matter. The court stated that it would come to a view after considering the report and talking to the Kerala police and the girl.
