Breaking: Supreme Court sets aside Kerala High Court judgment in Hadiya case [Read order]

In a significant judgment, the Supreme Court today set aside the judgment passed by the Kerala High Court in the Hadiya case..A Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud passed the judgment a few minutes ago..The Court ruled that the High Court should not have annulled the marriage of Hadiya and Shafin Jahan. The Court also stated that it has arrived at the decision after speaking to her. The order states,.“We say so because in the present appeal, by special leave, we had directed the personal presence of Hadiya alias Akhila Asokan; she appeared before this Court on 27th November, 2017, and admitted her marriage with appellant No.1.”.Thus, the Court allowed the appeal, noting,.“Hadiya alias Akhila Asokan is at liberty to pursue her future endeavours according to law.”.However, the Court also held that the ongoing investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the matter will continue..Earlier today, the Court stated that it would pronounce the operative part of its judgment in the Hadiya case at 2 pm today..A judgment was passed by the Kerala High Court on May 24 last year in a Habeas Corpus petition filed by Asokan, the father of Akhila (name changed to Hadiya), after his daughter had married a Muslim man and converted to Islam..The High Court had declared the marriage as null and void and directed that the custody of the girl be handed over to her parents. The Court also directed a detailed inquiry into the role of various organisations involved in the case..Widespread protests in the state, as well as across the country followed, with the matter eventually reaching the Supreme Court..During the hearings, the Bench had on repeated occasions, observed that investigating the marriage would lead to bad precedent in law. Last year, the Bench had directed that Hadiya be produced before it..Read the order: