Supreme Court gives UP government till "immediately" to decide on prosecution of school principal accused of encouraging students to slap Muslim child
State government also asked to give its opinion on using TISS or Nimhans to offer counseling to the traumatized Muslim boy and the other children involved in the incident
On Monday, the Supreme Court gave the Uttar Pradesh government till "immediately" to decide whether to allow the prosecution of a school principal who is suspected of encouraging students to slap a Muslim child after making disparaging statements against the minority population.
Tripta Tyagi is charged with cruelty to a child under Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act and outraging religious sensibilities under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code. Both clauses carry a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
The state government's opinion on using the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) or the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (Nimhans) to offer counseling to the traumatized Muslim boy and the other children involved in the incident was also sought by the bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Pankaj Mithal.
The Uttar Pradesh government was chastised by the top court for trying to weaken the case during the previous hearing on a public interest appeal filed by writer Tushar Gandhi by omitting any mention of the communal component in the FIR.
The court had declared that the situation "should shock the conscience of the State."
In addition to using Section 75 of the JJ Act against the teacher, assistant solicitor general K.M. Natraj stated on Monday that the state government had also used Section 295A. Natraj was representing Uttar Pradesh. He stated that approval for prosecution was pending.
The court issued an order saying, "We direct the state of Uttar Pradesh to take a decision on grant of sanction for prosecution" right away.
When a state education department attorney informed the bench that the boy was refusing to visit the counseling center despite three secretary-level officers having been assigned to counsel the child who had been smacked, the bench became irritated.
We have discovered that the child is naturally introverted. "He is not seeking counseling at the institution," the attorney declared.
The bench's chief justice, Justice Oka, shot back, saying, "He is in trauma and you expect him to visit? There is no hostility here. Then, we might designate TISS or Nimhans.
Representing Gandhi, advocate Shadan Farasat stated that the child need counseling since they were traumatized and would not talk to strangers.
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