A Kerala Muslim man, who married a Hindu woman, filed an application on Saturday in the Supreme Court requesting the NIA probe into the matter be stopped.
The application was filed in light of events which emerged post the court’s August 16 order, showing the girl had converted of her own free will and was being confined and “tortured” by her parents. This comes exactly a month after the Supreme Court handed over the investigation of the alleged conversion and subsequent marriage of the Hindu girl to the Muslim man.
The man in question has sought a recall of the apex court order and a direction to be issued to the Director General of Police, (Law and Order), Trivandrum, Kerala to produce the girl before the Supreme Court.
His application, through advocate Haris Beeran, refers to an aired video shot by activist Rahul Easwar, featuring the girl objecting to her “house arrest”.
The application claimed that the acting president of the Kerala Human Rights Commission, P. Mohandas had gone on to make a statement that the girl “is undergoing immense human rights violation at her house”. Moreover, the application also quotes the chairperson of Kerala Women’s Commission, M.C. Josephine, indicating that there is “grave human rights violation in the case of the detenue (the girl) and that the commission is willing to act on a complaint”.
The application points out that the retired Supreme Court judge, Justice R.V. Raveendran, whom the Supreme Court had appointed to oversee the NIA investigation, has refused the assignment. It said that in the light of Justice Raveendran’s refusal, the NIA probe should be stopped as it would not be a fair one.
“NIA has already commenced investigation and already found a link, all without the guidance of Justice Raveendran, the worst fears of the petitioners have therefore been realised. That such an investigation is clearly not fair and is against the orders of the Supreme Court,” the application said.
It said that keeping the girl in custody against her will, where she is not free to practice the religion she has chosen of her own free will is a clear violation of her fundamental rights
The application also added that an NIA probe may not be required and “it is also clear that Respondent No.1 (the girl’s father) is blatantly infringing upon the right of the detenue to live a dignified life with all the liberty and freedom of a consenting adult of sound mind”.
On August 16, a Bench led by then Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar had agreed with the NIA’s submission that the alleged conversion of the girl and her marriage to Mr. Jahan was not an “isolated incident” and there was a “pattern” emerging in the southern State.
The Supreme Court had ordered the NIA to start its investigation even as the Kerala Police readily obliged to bow out of the probe.
The girl is in her father’s custody after the Kerala High Court annulled their marriage on May 24.
The father said she was a helpless victim trapped by a “well-oiled” racket which uses “psychological measures” to indoctrinate people and converted them to Islam. Advocate Madhavi Divan, who represents him, had submitted that “radicalisation is rampant in Kerala”.