Supreme Court sets aside Kerala high court order, upholds Hadiya’s marriage

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld 25-year-old Hadiya’s marriage to Shafin Jahan, setting aside a Kerala high court judgement that had invalidated it on allegations that she was converted to Islam by force.

Upholding the marriage between consenting adults, a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) will continue its probe into the matter.

NIA, which on 16 August was asked to probe the alleged forced conversion, was later barred from investigating the validity of the marriage after Hadiya told the court that she had wilfully converted to Islam and consented to the marriage between her and Jahan.

In November, the apex court had allowed Hadiya to resume her studies at a homeopathic college in Tamil Nadu’s Salem, after she was placed under her parents’ custody since her marriage was annulled last May.

Born as Akhila in a Hindu family, she had converted to Islam and changed her name to Hadiya before marrying Jahan, a Muslim man. Acting on a plea filed by her father, who alleged his daughter was being indoctrinated and may be taken abroad by extremist organizations, the Kerala high court annulled her marriage on 25 May.

Jahan had moved the apex court after the Kerala high court annulled the marriage. He also sought a recall of the court’s order of 16 August, directing the NIA to investigate the controversial case of her conversion and marriage with him.