Supreme Court orders NIA probe into Kerala 'love jihad' case

New Delhi, Aug. 16 (Agencies): The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed an NIA probe under a retired judge into issues raised by a Muslim man whose marriage with a Hindu woman had been annulled by a court because it saw it as an instance of 'love jihad'.

A bench of Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said R.V. Raveendran, a retired judge of the apex court, would supervise the investigation.

Shafin Jahan, a resident of Kerala, had challenged the annulment of his marriage by the Kerala High Court, which had ordered the police to probe such cases. The woman had converted to Islam before marrying Jahan.

The top court had said that it was entrusting the task to the National Investigation Agency as a neutral agency to get a “whole picture” and find out whether the particular instance was limited to a “small pocket” or there was “something wider” to the issue.

Jahan, who had married a Hindu woman in last December, had moved the apex court after the high court annulled his marriage.

Ashokan K.M., the woman’s father, had alleged that there was a “well-oiled systematic mechanism” for conversion and Islamic radicalisation.

The high court, while declaring the marriage as “null and void”, had described the case as an instance of 'love jihad' and ordered the state police to probe such cases.

It was alleged that the Islamic State’s mission in Syria had recruited the woman, and that Jahan was only a stooge.

The NIA has recently investigated some cases of 'love jihad' in which women were allegedly being sent to Syria to join the ISIS.