Supreme Court lens on HC’s ‘love jihad’ order

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that it will examine the question whether a high court can annul the marriage of an adult Muslim man with a consenting, adult Hindu woman who had converted to Islam before tying the nuptial knot, while hearing details of what has come to be known as Kerala’s “love jihad” case.

A bench, headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, said that it would also examine whether the case warranted a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe.

“The question is, can the high court annul the marriage by exercising its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution,” said the court which disapproving of an order by the Kerala high court in May nullifying the marriage of Shafin Jahan, 27, with a Hindu girl Akhila alias Hadia, 24, in Kollam in 2016.

The high court had, on May 24, declared the marriage “null and void” while exercising its writ jurisdiction.

The three-judge Supreme Court bench indicated that it may also re-consider its earlier decision to order an NIA probe into the inter-faith marriage that was described by the high court as a case of “love jihad”.

While hearing Mr Jahan’s plea alleging illegal confinement of his wife by her father, the court said, “Our preliminary view is, a father cannot be seen dictating the personal life of a 24-year-old daughter.”

“The woman is 24-year-old and it is absolutely clear that she cannot be by force under custody of her father. The father cannot say he should have 24-hour custody of her. We may appoint a custodian or send her somewhere safe,” the court said.

“We will hear logical and legal arguments on two issues - can the high court nullify a marriage exercising jurisdiction under Article 226 and was an NIA probe necessary,” said the bench which also included Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud.

The bench posted the matter for further hearing on October 9. In May, a high court bench of Justices Surendra Mohan and Abraham Mathew annulled the marriage of Mr Jahan, an active member of the Social Democratic Party of India, with Hadiya, a homeopathy student.

On August 16, a Supreme Court bench headed by the then CJI, J.S. Khehar, ordered a probe by the NIA into the “love jihad” angle in the marriage.