NEW DELHI: The
Supreme Court restored the marriage of
Hadiya, aka
Akhila Asokan, with
Shafin Jahan on Thursday, 10 months after the Kerala high court annulled it and placed her in parental custody besides ordering a probe into a possible 'love jihad' angle to the marriage solemnised after her conversion to Islam.
However, the SC permitted the
NIA to continue with its probe into the alleged criminal phenomenon of 'love jihad' and take it to its logical conclusion in accordance with law. The ruling means Hadiya can now live with her husband. She has been living in a hostel while pursuing a course in homoeopathic medicine since the SC released her from parental custody after she told the court she had married of her own free will.
“We hold that the HC should not have annulled the marriage between Shafin Jahan and Hadiya, in a habeas corpus petition under Article 226 of the Constitution. We say so because in the present appeal, we had directed the personal presence of Hadiya; she appeared before us on November 27, 2017, and admitted to her marriage with Jahan,” a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud said.
The bench said Hadiya was free to pursue her future endeavours in accordance with the law, which would mean that for the first time since her marriage to Jahan on November 19, 2016, the couple can stay together without fear of official agencies inquiring about the nature of consent for their marriage.
File photo of Akhila, 24, who converted to Islam in 2016 and took a new name, Hadiya, arriving at the airport ... Read More
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