The Hadiya case witnessed another eventful hearing today, as the Supreme Court made some curt but relevant oral observations regarding Hadiya’s marriage to Shafin Jahan and the scope of a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
When the matter was taken up by the Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, the ambit and scope of an NIA investigation came to be discussed.
CJI Dipak Misra remarked that the NIA can probe into all aspects, with the exception of the marital status of Hadiya.
“She has told us she got married. She can choose independently, she is 24 years old. You can probe into all aspects except marital status [of Hadiya].”
Advocate Madhavi Divan tried to argue on the aspect of how the marriage was a sham to get around the Court’s jurisdiction, and cited the antecedents of Hadiya’s husband.
Justice Chandrachud, however, replied,
“We cannot inquire into whether the person she married is a good human being or a bad human being.”
“She has taken an independent choice…she is 24 years old. Marriage has to be separate from the aspect of criminal activity. Otherwise we will be creating a bad precedent in law. We cannot go into the marital status”, CJI Misra joined.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal then made an oral request for impleadment of Hadiya in the matter, which was allowed.
Despite the oral observations, the Court did not pass any order regarding the NIA probe or its scope. Further, the High Court judgment annulling the marriage has not been stayed.
The matter will now be heard on February 22.
Read the order below.
