SC restores Hadiya and Shafin Jahan's marriage, sets aside Kerala HC verdict

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday restored the marriage of Kerala woman Hadiya with Shafin Jahan setting aside a Kerala High Court verdict that annulled the relationship between the couple. A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, however, in a brief order said that the NIA may continue with its investigation in the matter. The apex court had on February 22 questioned whether the high court could nullify a marriage between two adults who came together at will. 25-year-old Hadiya, who is at the centre of the controversy, had filed an affidavit before the top court last month claiming that she willingly converted to Islam and wants to live with her husband Shafin Jahan. The matter came to light last year when Shafin Jahan, who had married Hadiya in December 2016, had challenged a Kerala High Court order annulling his marriage with Hadiya and sending the woman to her parents' custody, saying it was an insult to the independence of women in the country. Hadiya, a Hindu, had converted to Islam and later married Jahan. The Kerala High Court had in May 2016 annulled the marriage terming it as an instance of 'love jihad'. The high court, while declaring the marriage as "null and void", had ordered the state police to conduct probe into such cases. On November 27 last year, the apex court had set Hadiya free from the custody of her parents and directed that she be allowed to complete her studies at a Salem homeopathy college. The woman had pleaded that she should be allowed to go with her husband. When the top court had heard and interviewed Hadiya in an open court, the woman said she wanted to go with her husband Shafin Jahan. The apex court had on January 23 made it clear that the National Investigation Agency cannot probe the marital status of Hadiya and Jahan.