Hadiya case
The Hadiya case (Shafin Jahan v. Asokan K.M) was a 2017–2018 Indian Supreme Court case that affirmed the validity of the marriage of Hadiya (formerly Akhila Ashokan) and Shafin Jehan, which was challenged by Hadiya's family. Media outlets have described the underlying dispute as an allegation of "love jihad".
| Shafin Jahan v. Asokan K.M | |
|---|---|
| Court | Supreme Court of India |
| Full case name | Shafin Jahan v. Asokan K.M & ORS |
| Citation(s) | |
| Case history | |
| Appealed from | High Court of Kerala |
| Appealed to | Supreme Court of India |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | Justice Dipak Misra Justice Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud |
| Case opinions | |
| Hadiya was allowed to re-join her medical college to continue her studies and her marriage with Shafin Jahan was restored. | |
At the time of the case, Hadiya was a homeopathic medical student from Vaikom, Kerala. In early 2016, she was reported missing by her father, Asokan K.M, who filed a police case followed by a habeas corpus petition in the Kerala High Court to trace her; Hadiya has described the circumstances of her leaving as her father forbidding her from practicing Islam. She left her home for college on 6 January, dressed in a hijab. Hadiya was staying with A.S. Zainaba, president of Popular Front of India (PFI)'s women's wing, the National Women's Front (NWF). She had converted to Islam and married Jehan, a Muslim man. Jehan was an active member of the PFI-affiliated Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). Her family alleged that she was brainwashed and that her marriage was forced, but Hadiya said she married of her own volition.
In May 2017, Hadiya's marriage was annulled by the High Court of Kerala on the grounds that Hadiya was a victim of indoctrination and psychological kidnapping, and that their claims of their marriage being arranged through a matrimony website were "bogus". The High Court of Kerala then handed over Hadiya's custody to her father, Ashokan, arguing that "As per Indian tradition, the custody of an unmarried daughter is with the parents, until she is properly married."
Jahan appealed the Kerala High Court order, and moved to the Supreme Court. In November 2017, the Supreme Court of India directed Hadiya to resume her internship, and that she was free to meet whomever she wanted. In March 2018, the Supreme Court restored Hadiya's marriage, 10 months after the Kerala High Court annulled it.