Supreme Court on Tuesday observed that the NIA could not go into the marital status of Hadiya, after saying that she was an adult.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra observed that the NIA probe will have no bearing in deciding the aspects of legitimacy of marriage of Hadiya and Shafin Jahan, reported ANI.
“How can we say marriage is not valid when she says she married….she can choose independently. She is 24 years old.. We cannot go into the marriage, whether the person she married is a good human being or a bad human being”, the bench was quoted by Bar and Bench website.
The SC added, “NIA can investigate into all other aspects except marriage.”
The Kerala High Court had astonishingly annulled their marriage last year even though Hadiya said that she was an adult and she chose to embrace Islam long before marrying Shafin out of her own choice.
The top court had controversially asked the NIA to probe the Love Jihad angle in the past. Love Jihad is a terminology coined and frequently used by India’s Hindutva brigade against Muslim men who marry Hindu women after being in relationships.
The Supreme Court had asked Hadiya to depose before it in person last year. But despite her personal appearance stating that there was no coercion or luring involved in her decision to marry Shafin, the top court refused to let her go back to her husband. Instead, the SC asked Hadiya to return to college and complete her studies.
Four senior most judges of the Supreme Court had earlier this month accused CJI Misra of assigning politically sensitive cases to favorable benches with relatively junior judges.
Supreme Court to hear the matter on 22 February.