The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe an alleged case of ‘love jehad’ involving a Hindu woman from Kerala who converted to Islam and later married a Muslim man. The investigation will be under the supervision of retired Supreme Court judge RV Raveendran, the Bench ordered.
After the Kerala High Court restored the custody of 24-year-old woman Akhila, alias Hadiya, to her father and even annulled her marriage with one Shafin Jahan, the husband approached the apex court with a request to undo the HC order and restore his marriage. Represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, Jahan demanded that the judges interview the woman.
Handing over the probe from the Kerala Police to the NIA, the apex Bench of Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud told Sibal, “We first want to hear all sides. The Kerala HC has formed a view (about possibility of forcible conversion). We will await the inputs from the NIA. Once we make up our mind, we will speak to the woman.”
When Sibal persisted that the woman, being a major, should be allowed to speak her mind, the Bench cited the recent online game Blue Whale Challenge as an example to show how several young people were persuaded to take their own lives. “Have you heard about this game called Blue Whale. It can lead people to anything. We are not assuming anything but it is a fact that two judges of Kerala HC have formed a view against you,” the Bench told Sibal.
Represented by senior advocate V Giri, the Kerala Police informed the court that all findings of the ongoing investigation have already been handed over to the NIA. However, the State police did not mind handing over the probe to the NIA if the court so directed, he said.
Sibal agreed to the NIA probe provided the investigation was fairly done. To ensure this, the Bench ordered the NIA to conduct an investigation under the direct supervision of Justice (Retd) RV Raveendran. It further directed the Centre to pay the former judge Rs 1 lakh remuneration per sitting and a sum of Rs 2 lakh per day for travelling outside his hometown in Bengaluru for investigation purposes.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Maninder Singh submitted that the NIA must probe whether the hostel where the woman stayed prior to her marriage had any link with the banned Students’ Islamic Movement of India.