Hadiya 'Love Jihad’ case: No need for NIA probe, Kerala govt tells SC

In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the Pinarayi Vijayan government in Kerala said that there is no need for National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe in alleged Hadiya “Love Jihad” case.

Rejecting NIA’s claims, the Kerala govt told Supreme Court that the Hadiya case was not part of an alleged “pattern” of religious conversions and radicalication, reported the Hindu.

In the affidavit, the Pinarayi Vijayan government even expressed satisfaction over the Kerala Police probe and said it was doing an “efficient” job before the apex court intervened and handed over the case to Centre’s investigative agency.

"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.

Defending state Police’s investigation in the matter, the affidavit said the “Kerala Police is competent to conduct the investigation in such crimes.”

"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.

26-year-old Muslim man Shafin Jahan had filed a petition in the Supreme Court for the production of his wife, whom his father-in-law took away after Kerala HC declared their wedding invalid.

Jahan has sought a stay on the divorce order of Kerala high court which had ruled that he married Hadiya/Akhila after she was radicalized by elements associated with Islamic State and other terrorist organizations.

Hearing Jahan’s plea, the top Court had handed over the probe to NIA and sought response from Kerala government.