Kerala 'love jihad' case: No need for NIA probe, Pinarayi Vijayan government tells Supreme Court

The Kerala government on Saturday told the Supreme Court that there is no need for an NIA probe in the alleged love jihad case.

The Pinarayi Vijayan government told the top court that the claims made by the National Investigation Agency that there was a 'pattern' in the way religious conversions were taking place in Kerala were false.

The state government also said that the probe done by the Kerala Police has not revealed any startling fact that merits an NIA investigation.

It must be noted that earlier, the Kerala government had said that if the apex court wants an NIA probe, it has no objections.

The affidavit by the Kerala government comes days after the Supreme Court observed that 'a father can't dictate life of a 24-year-old daughter' while hearing the 'Love Jihad' case.

In fact, the top court had also question the Kerala High Court how it could annul the marriage of Hadiya  and Shafeen Jahan under Article 26.

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 next hearing has been scheduled for October 9.