The Hadiya-Shafin ‘Love Jihad’ case has a new development. The Supreme Court on Monday (Oct 30) heard the case and said that Hadiya’s consent and her side of the story is mandatory as she is an adult.
“In a habeas corpus matter, the consent of the girl is prime,” Chief Justice Dipak Misra said, reports ANI.
The SC bench has now asked Hadiya's father to produce her on November 27, the next date of hearing. The apex court will hear the case in an open court at 3 pm that day
Hadiya’s husband, Shafin Jahan, filed a petition in the apex court to invalidate the Kerala High Court's verdict that annulled his marriage. He also appealed to the court to drop National Investigation Agency’s probe into the matter as he said that they are not doing a “fair” job.
Hadiya (24) married Jahan last year when she was a Hindu girl, Akhila Asokan. Hadiya's father, retired militaryman, Ashokan KM, found out about the inter-religious marriage. He then filed a plea in Kerala HC to cancel their marriage. Ashokan alleged that Hadiya met her husband on an Islamist matrimonial site. He also accused her husband of intending to fly Hadiya to the war-torn Syria as a human bomb and making her join the ISIS.
ALSO READ: Kerala Women’s Commission Seeks Report on Hadiya’s Condition
“Parental authority can be invoked in cases where someone is manipulated or indoctrinated,” the Centre observed in the court on Monday.
Earlier in August, the SC had questioned the Kerala HC’s decision. It upheld that inter-religious and inter-faith marriages are legal in democratic India.
“This is a free and democratic country. And once a person becomes a major, he or she can marry whosoever he/she likes. If the parents of the boy or girl do not approve of such inter-caste or inter-religious marriage, the maximum they can do is that they can cut off social relations with the son or the daughter,” court said, HT reported.
Picture credit- The News Minute
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