Supreme Court to examine whether HC can annul marriages

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that it would examine if the High Court can annul the marriage of a major girl who converted to Islam and married a Muslim man, in an instance touted as an alleged case of love jihad from Kerala.

It would also examine whether NIA, the country’s top investigating agency, should probe the case. The girl’s husband has opposed an order passed by an earlier bench, headed by former CJI JS Khehar, directing an NIA probe into the case.

Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the husband Shafin Jahan, demanded a recall of the earlier court order saying that it had sent “wrong signals” the world over. Additional SG Tushar Mehta, appearing for NIA, hotly contested this, saying that there appeared to be a pattern to such cases of love jihaad in the state.

A three-judge bench, led by CJI Dipak Misra, asked lawyers from both sides to refrain from making emotive arguments.