Hadiya case: Husband moves Supreme Court against “Love Jihad” Ruling of Kerala High Court

Hadiya, who earlier went by the name of Akhila, is a 24-year-old woman in Kerala who converted to Islam of her own volition, and subsequently married a Muslim man Shafin Jahan. In a judgement dated 25 May this year, a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court annulled her marriage terming it to be a “sham” and directed that Hadiya be placed in the protective custody of her Hindu parents, or an institution, so that she is prevented from being a further victim of “love jihad”..Now, Shafin Jahan, in a Special Leave Petition (SLP), has moved the Supreme Court against the High Court judgement which was criticised for trammelling upon the decisional autonomy of an adult woman, and had also given rise to a wave of protests across Kerala..The petition has been filed by advocate Pallavi Pratap and drawn by advocate Haris Beeran..KM Asokan, Hadiya’s father, had earlier moved the Kerala High Court by way of a writ petition, contending that his daughter had been forcibly converted to Islam and was being confined in illegal detention. On 25 January 2016, the High Court had ruled that, on an assessment of the facts and circumstances, it was clear that Hadiya, a medical student, had converted to Islam without being coerced or beguiled by anybody, and was living in a hostel on her own. The court had dismissed Asokan’s writ petition of habeas corpus..Shafin’s SLP contends that due to the High Court’s January 2016 ruling, the subsequent Division Bench of Justices Surendra Mohan and Abraham Mathew ought not to have adjudicated the issue of Hadiya’s conversion, because that is barred by the principle of res judicata, which seeks to prevent the multiplicity of proceedings on the same issue. The SLP also states that Hadiya converted to Islam two years prior to her marriage with Shafin, so the possibility of a coerced conversion, or one under allurement, is also ruled out..Moreover, Shafin contends that there was no prayer to declare the marriage a sham, yet the High Court ruled on that issue. In any case, under the tenets of Islamic law, a Hindu father cannot participate in the wedding rituals of his daughter who had converted to Islam and was married according to Islamic rites. On that ground alone, Asokan’s plea to annul the marriage is bound to fail..In its May 2017 ruling, the High Court held that there is a serious apprehension of Hadiya crossing over to Iraq to join the Islamic State, for she had married a Muslim under “questionable and suspicious circumstances.” Shafin rebuts this by pointing out that the court’s apprehensions were gravely misconceived, since Hadiya does not have a passport and hence cannot travel out of India under any circumstances..On 27 July 2006, the Supreme Court, in Lata Singh’s case had upheld the individual decisional autonomy of a major woman who had left her parents’ home to marry the man of her choice. Shafin’s SLP contends that the High Court’s May 2017 judgement, with unnecessary religious overtones is in violation of binding precedent, and “an insult to the independence of women in India.”.Read the SLP below.