The Kerala government defended its police before the Supreme Court and said the investigation into the marriage of a Muslim man with a Hindu woman was conducted in “an efficient and sincere manner”. It also said the probe did not reveal any scheduled offences warranting a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe as directed by the apex court.
The Kerala High Court had on May 24 annulled the December 19, 2016 marriage of Shafin Jahan with Akhila, renamed Hadiya, after terming it a “Love Jihad”.
On August 16, hearing Shafin’s challenge of the HC’s order, the apex court directed an NIA probe to ascertain if there was a pattern of such incidents.
In an affidavit, the state government submitted that its police are competent to conduct investigation into such cases and its crime branch had registered an FIR on May 31 as directed by the HC. On the last date of hearing, Shafin urged the apex court to recall the order for NIA probe as former SC judge, Justice R V Raveendran, had refused the probe.
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