Kerala 'love jihad' case: Father can't dictate personal life of a 24-year-old daughter, says SC

Can a father dictate personal life his 24-year-old daughter? No, said the Supreme Court while hearing the Kerala 'love jihad case' on Tuesday.

The top court, in fact, questioned how the Kerala High Court annulled the marriage of Hadiya and Shafeen Jahan under Article 226.

According to The Hindu, Chief Justice of India Deepal Misra said that father can't insist on his daughter's custody

Defence Counsel Dushyant Dave argued that the probe by the National Investigation Agency in the case 'strikes at the very foundation of multi-religious society'.

The next hearing has been scheduled for October 9.

Shafeen Jahan married Akhila Ashokan in December last year after she converted to Islam and rechristened herself as Hadiya.

Her father moved the Kerala High Court and claimed his daughter was indoctrinated and forcibly converted. He, in fact, said that his daughter would be be sent to Afghanistan or Syria.

The High Court annulled the marriage. But Jahan approached the Supreme Court against the annulment.

Earlier in August, the NIA began investigation into the case following the top court's orders.

In compliance with the orders of the apex court, the case was re-registered by the NIA and an investigation was taken up.

The Kerala Government has said that if the apex court wants an NIA probe, it has no objections.

The Supreme Court said that after getting inputs from the NIA and Kerala Police probe, it would interview Akhila to ascertain her views.