Top court restores Hadiya’s marriage, father to file appeal
HC had no right to annul marriage: SC
NEWDELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the validity of the marriage of Hadiya, a 26-year-old Kerala woman who converted to Islam and wed a Muslim man, overturning a Kerala high court order that annulled their marital union as a sham.
“Hadiya alias Akhila Asokan is at liberty to pursue her future endeavours according to law,” a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra ruled, reading out the operative part of its judgement. A reasoned order will follow later, the judges said.
Pronouncing the landmark decision that upholds a woman’s right to choose her partner, the bench — also comprising justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud — said the Kerala high court “should not have annulled the marriage” of Hadiya and Shafin Jahan while exercising the extraordinary powers it derives from the Constitution of India to enforce fundamental rights.
Hadiya, born Akhila, converted to Islam in January 2016 and married Jahan in December the same year. In May 2017, the Kerala high court annulled the marriage. Thursday’s order came on a petition by Jahan chal- lenging the high court order, which was delivered on a habeas corpus petition filed by Hadiya’s father KM Asokan. The top court rejected the father’s plea that it was well within the high court’s power to declare a marriage sham if there was evidence to back it.
The Kerala high court not only invalidated Hadiya’s marriage but also handed the woman’s custody to her parents until the top court stepped in.
The order had put the spotlight on “love jihad”, a controversial term coined by fringe Hindu groups to describe what they claim is a conspiracy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into marriage.
The Supreme Court relied on its November 27, 2017 interaction with Hadiya when the latter was present in the court. It noted that Hadiya had “admitted” to her marriage with Jahan.
After the interaction Hadiya was freed from her father’s custody and sent to her college to complete the homeopathy course she was pursuing.
Reacting to the SC verdict, Asokan said he will continue his fight. He said he will soon file a review petition against the order after consulting his lawyers. “I still believe that the marriage was a haphazard one and an excuse to take her abroad,” he said. “Look, no father would like to send his daughter to the violence-hit areas of Afghanistan or Syria. I would be the happiest if my daughter would have converted and married a Muslim youth in a proper way,” he said.