Hadiya case: No need for NIA probe, Kerala tells SC

NEW DELHI: The Kerala government told the Supreme Court that there was no ground for a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in an alleged Hadiya “Love Jihad” case.

Rejecting NIA’s claims, the Pinarayi Vijayan government told the top court that Hadiya case was not part of an alleged “pattern” of religious conversions and radicalication, reported the Hindu.

In the affidavit, state government also expressed satisfaction over the Kerala police for effectively investigating the case.

“The investigation conducted so far by the Kerala Police has not revealed any incident relating to the commission of any scheduled offences to make a report to the Central Government under Section 6 of the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008,” the state government said in the affidavit.

“The Kerala Police had conducted a thorough investigation in an efficient manner. The Kerala Police is competent to conduct the investigation in such crimes and would have reported to the Central government if any scheduled offences were found to have been committed as per the provisions under the NIA Act,” the affidavit said.

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26-year-old Muslim man Shafin Jahan married to 24-year-old Hadiya Aka Akhila Ashokan in December 2016 after she converted to Islam.

On May 25, the Kerala High Court declared as “null and void” their marriage, terming it a “sham” and ordered for placing her in her parents’ protective custody.

On August 16, the Supreme Court ordered an National Investigation Agency probe supervised by retired apex court Justice R.V. Raveendran into the conversion and her subsequent marriage to Jahan.