SC Orders NIA Probe Into Kerala “Love-Jihad” Case: A National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe has been ordered by the Supreme Court (SC) into the conversion and marriage of a Hindu girl in Kerala in 2016.

The investigation will be supervised by a retired judge of the apex court, Mr. Justice RV Ravindran. A bench of Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud, ordering the probe, said the court “shall require the presence of the girl”, before taking a final call.

After getting inputs from all, including the NIA, Kerala government and others, the bench said it would decide the issue. The SC order comes after Kapil Sibal, said the court should decide the issue after speaking to the girl. Sibal is appearing for the petitioner, Shafeen Jahan in the case. Jahan had married a Hindu woman in December 2016.

The Kerala High Court had nullified the marriage of the converted girl with Jahan. It described the case as an instance of “love jihad.” Challenging the High Court’s decision, petitioner Jahan has moved to the top court. Jahan said that it was an insult to the independence of women in the country. The woman, a Hindu, had converted to Islam and later married Jahan. It was alleged that the woman was recruited by Islamic State's mission in Syria and Jahan was only a stooge.

The court order comes in the wake as the bench was told that the NIA has in its preliminary investigation found that there was a pattern as “entities” in two cases that have come to light were the same.

Senior counsel Indira Jaising told the bench that it was an inter-religious matter and the court must be careful.

SUPRAJA