The National Investigation Agency (NIA) told the Supreme Court on Monday that its investigation into the alleged love jehad cases in Kerala has shown a pattern where Hindu women are “indoctrinated” before converting to Islam.
The agency made the startling revelation after the SC wished to know from it whether it could stop a girl who is a major from exercising her free choice and settle with the Muslim boy, while hearing a habeas corpus matter which relates to a proceeding invoked in situations where a citizen is under illegal custody in the sensitive Kerala marriage case. The SC adjourned the hearing in the case to October 30.
The agency was entrusted with the probe by the SC in August this year into the events involving a Hindu girl from Kerala who converted to Islam while studying at an Islamic institution and later married a Muslim youth Shafin Jahan — alleged to have links with terrorist outfits. The probe, to be supervised by a retired SC judge, has begun, informed Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Maninder Singh. He said, “In the initial investigation conducted, we have found there was a pattern of indoctrination by which the girls were converted.”
Even before the Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra could react, all hell broke loose as the petitioner-husband Shafin Jahan’s counsel senior advocate Dushyant Dave accused the NIA of politicising the case.
He accused the NIA to be an agent of the BJP-led Government at the Centre. Dave referred to the recent statements made by BJP president Amit Shah and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during their recent visits to Kerala where they spoke of love jehad and drove a wedge between the Muslim and Hindu communities, known to peacefully coexist in Kerala.
The ASG referred to the comments as “obnoxious” and accused Dave of making high-pitched political statements. The Bench, taken aback by the chaos, suspended the hearing of the case and refused to proceed any further. Pulling up Dave for such conduct, CJI Misra said, “You have bulldozed the argument by your conduct. The way you have argued today is inexonerable. Your voice, speech, and manner of submission are absolutely not in law. What you feel you are speaking in court. We will not hear you anymore.”
The Kerala Government, which filed an affidavit challenging the need for NIA probe, was represented by senior advocate V Giri, failed to make his submissions in this surcharged atmosphere.
Dave said the reason for his outburst was to protest over NIA probing the case without waiting for a retired judge to supervise the same.
The Bench, also comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, explained to Dave that the core issue to be dealt with is whether the Kerala High Court did the right thing by annulling marriage between two consenting adults and handed the custody of the girl to her parents.