NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government on a plea seeking time bound and independent probe in an FIR lodged in a case related to slapping of a Muslim minor boy by fellow students at the exhortation of teacher in a private school in Muzaffarnagar district.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal also sought a report from the Superintendent of Police on status of the probe and put the plea filed by Tushar Gandhi, great grandson of M K Gandhi, for hearing on September 25.
The plea sought directions for a time-bound and independent investigation including registration of FIR in respect of all provisions where prima facie disclosing commission of offences, specifically Section 82 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, in the recent episode of atrocities committed against the 7-year-old boy in Muzaffarnagar.
It claimed the appalling and ghastly episode that occurred in Neha Public School, Muzaffarnagar also has an insidious effect on pupils who witness it, creating an atmosphere of fear, anxiety, intolerance and polarisation, incompatible with learning.
On August 24, 2023, the "disturbing video" emerged of the boy being slapped by fellow students in the school in Muzaffarnagar village at instructions of their teacher/ principal, Tripta Tyagi because he got his multiplication tables wrong, it said.
The petition raised larger issues for consideration, i.e., infestation of religious divide in society and subsequently classrooms, so guidelines are sought in the realm of preventive and remedial measures within the school systems for prevention of violence against students belonging to religious minorities.
It also sought a prescription of preventive and remedial nature in relation to treatment of children, particularly those belonging to religious minorities within the school systems.
The plea said the 7-year-old boy complained that he felt disturbed and was unable to sleep following the incident.
"Ever since the FIR has been filed, there has been a mounting pressure on the childs family to strike a compromise and get the FIR against the teacher expunged," it claimed.
The plea also alleged the teacher and the children belong to a community that is electorally dominant community in the Western Uttar Pradesh, and there are concerns that ruling government is trying to suppress the furore that the incident has justifiably created.
