The Supreme Court has expressed its criticism towards the Uttar Pradesh government for its apparent non-compliance with the Right to Education Act. This comes in light of the incident involving a teacher from a private school in Muzaffarnagar, who was seen in a viral video encouraging students to slap a Muslim classmate. The apex court has now directed the appointment of a senior Indian Police Services (IPS) officer to oversee the investigation into this case. The next hearing is scheduled for October 30.
The court’s bench, comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal, raised concerns about the delay in filing the First Information Report (FIR). They also questioned why the FIR did not include allegations of a communal nature and pointed out the absence of a video transcript. Justice Oka remarked,
“This is about the quality of education, and this includes sensitive education. The manner in which it has happened should shake the conscience of the state. The state must take responsibility for the education of the child.”
The court’s directive emphasizes that the investigation should determine whether the offense of hate speech under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code is applicable. The court stated,
“After a long delay an FIR has been registered on September 6, 2023, alleging commission of offences under Section 75 of Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, and Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 503 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC have been invoked. The probe shall be supervised by a senior police officer nominated by the State government to look into whether these two offences deserve to be invoked. The IPS officer so invited shall submit a report to this court.”
The plea, which brought this matter to the court’s attention, was filed by the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. He sought a swift and independent investigation into the incident and called for remedial measures in schools to address violence against children, especially those from religious minorities. The teacher at the heart of this controversy, Tripta Tyagi, allegedly made derogatory remarks about Muslim children while instructing his classmates to assault the Muslim student. Following the incident’s widespread attention, the school in Khubbapur village was sealed.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights had subsequently urged the Uttar Pradesh Police to lodge an FIR against Tyagi. The National Human Rights Commission also took suo motu cognizance of the incident. Tyagi, in her defense, released a video statement claiming that while she might have erred, there was no communal angle to the event.
The Supreme Court emphasized the importance of quality education, stating,
“We may note that there is a complete bar on physical and mental harassment of children (under the Act). If parents are also made to bear the brunt, then it is the worst form, since here teachers directed other students also. There cannot be any quality education if a student is sought to be penalized only on the grounds that he belongs to a particular community.”
The court also directed the state government to provide professional counseling to the victim and his classmates.
