The Supreme Court on Monday witnessed a war of words after senior advocate Dushyant Dave made a stunning allegation that the BJP President Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, were trying to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere in Kerala.
Representing Hadiya’s husband Shafin Jahan, Dave said, “Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and BJP president Amit Shah were using this case for a political propaganda.”
“This case is about liberty of a woman and it should not be politicised,” Dave added.
This led to exchange of heated arguments between Dave and Counsel for the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Maninder Singh (the Additional Solicitor General), who objected to BJP leaders’ names being dragged in the case, reported India Today.
The bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud took serious note of Dave’s allegations. Justice Misra, as reported by Bar and Bench website, said, “Your tone and manner of submissions are…(unclear). You have actually bulldozed your case.”
The bench further added, “We take strong objection to the names of politicians being mentioned in the court. We will decide the case merely on legal points.”
Dave refused to back down and said, “I take strong exception to that. If Your Lordships don’t want to hear me, please don’t. But don’t put it (words) in my mouth.”
Dave’s statement led to a war of words with ASG Singh, prompting the Court to adjourn the matter for 30 October.
The Supreme Court last week had observed if the Kerala High Court had exceeded its judicial brief by declaring the marriage of Hadiya and Shafin null and void. Hadiya, a 24-year-old woman, had converted to Islam after marrying a Muslim man.
The apex court also said that a 24-year-old woman could not be controlled by her father.
“Can the High Court under Article 226 (writ jurisdiction) nullify a marriage? Prima facie, we say it can’t,” Chief Justice Deepak Misra had observed.
The issue had reached the top court as Kerala-native Shafin Jahan challenged the annulment of his marriage by the Kerala High Court that ordered the state police to probe such cases.
Later, in a fresh twist in Kerala’s so-called Love Jihad controversy, the girl, who converted to Islam, had said that she wanted to die as a Muslim.
In the video posted by activist Rahul Easwar, the girl, Akhila Hadiya, had expressed her frustration over being kept in solitary confinement adding that ‘Is keeping me like this enough? Is this all my life going to be?’
Easwar had visited the family to speak to them, where he recorded the conversation of Hadiya and her mother, Ponamma. NDTV quoted him as saying that Hadiya wanted to die as a Muslim.
