A few days before the scheduled production of Hadiya @ Akhila before the Supreme Court on November 27, Shafin Jahan, who she is allegedly married to, has moved the apex court seeking contempt action against the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Mr. Jahan alleged that the NIA had acted in contempt of the Supreme Court’s order of August 16 by proceeding with the investigation despite the fact that Justice R.V. Raveendran, a retired Supreme Court judge the apex court had appointed to supervise the NIA to ensure a fair and impartial probe, refused the job in a letter on September 4.
Besides, the petition, filed through advocate Haris Beeran on Saturday, argued that the Kerala government had already filed an affidavit on October 6 submitting that a thorough investigation conducted by the State police had found no need for an NIA probe. The NIA has already filed a status report in three sealed envelopes.
Mr. Jahan himself had filed a petition to recall the August 16 order, following which the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had modified its order on October 30 and directed Ms. Hadiya to be produced in person before it on November 27 at 3 p.m.
“By continuing to investigate in the present matter, without any guidance of a retired Judge of this court, the NIA has acted in a grossly contemptuous and mala fide manner against the directions of this court in the orders dated 16.8.2017 and 30.10.2017,” the petition alleged.
The petition further said the public comments made on November 7 by National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma after meeting Ms. Hadiya in Kerala were “uncalled for”, especially when the matter had been pending before the Supreme Court. The Kerala Women’s Commission had not been allowed permission to meet the girl.
“Ms. Rekha Sharma proceeded to provide a comment on the matter by saying that in Kerala forced religious conversions take place, not love jihad,” the petition said.
Her visit and the comments were made with a “vested interest and mala fide intent to prejudice the present proceeding” in the Supreme Court, it said.
