On what basis did a court decide that a marriage between two consenting adults should be annulled because of allegations by a third party?

This is the question that Chief Justice of India JS Khehar and Justice Chandrachud should have been asking on Wednesday. They were hearing an appeal against a judgement of the Kerala High Court, which had annulled the marriage between 24-year-old Hadiya (formerly known as Akhila Ashokan) and 27-year-old Shafin Jahan, on the basis of a petition filed by Hadiya’s father.

Instead, the two judges of the Supreme Court decided to ask the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to investigate the case, with a view to determine whether Hadiya was influenced as part of a broader programme that converts women to Islam so that they can marry Muslim men – what the RSS and BJP call “love jihad”.

Video: The Quint