Supreme Court: NIA can't probe legitimacy of marriage
The court made Hadiya a party in this case and sought her response about her marriage with Jahan.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) couldn’t probe the legitimacy of Hadiya’s marriage with Shafin Jahan as she has the right to decide about her choice.
A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud said the NIA probe on the terror angle will have no bearing on the marital status of Ms. Hadiya. The court made Hadiya a party in this case and sought her response about her marriage with Jahan.
The court made it clear that it cannot go into the legitimacy of the marriage, as it was either Hadiya or Jahan to take a call on this aspect. The court said “we make it clear that we are not concerned about the ongoing probe by the NIA into ‘love jihad’ cases. The only issue before us is legitimacy of the marriage, which cannot be challenged by third parties.” The CJI said, “It needs no special emphasis to state that attaining the age of majority in an individual’s life has its own significance. She/he is entitled to make her/his choice. The court cannot as long as the choice remains assume the role of parens patriae.
When Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh, appearing for the NIA said that the August 16, 2017 order directing the NIA probe cannot be allowed to go waste, the bench reiterated: “Whether she made an independent choice or not, only she knows. She is 24-year-old. We cannot get into her thinking. You cannot probe marriage. Legitimacy of marriage can only be questioned either bythe woman or the man. NIA can carry on with its probe but there should not be any kind of umbrella of this court.”
Appearing for the girl’s father, Counsel Madhavi Divan argued that the marriage is merely a devise to legitimise her illegal confinement.