New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India Monday September 25, 2023 slammed the Uttar Pradesh government and the state police while hearing a petition related to a Muslim student who was repeatedly slapped by his classmates on the instructions of their teacher.
“At first impression, it is a case of failure on the part of the Uttar Pradesh government to comply with the provisions of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, which prohibits physical and mental harassment of students and their discrimination on the basis of religion and caste”, the Supreme Court said.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal made verbal observations while hearing the petition that raised concerns over the incident of school students taking turns to slap the Muslim classmate on instructions of their teacher.
The video of the incident went viral last month sparking a huge outrage, following which an FIR was lodged against the teacher.
While directing that the case be investigated by a senior IPS-ranked police officer, the Apex Court slammed the Uttar Pradesh Police over the delay in filing the FIR and also charges framed against the teacher and the way it handled the case.
"If the allegation is correct, this may be the worst kind of physical punishment imparted by a teacher directing other students to assault the victim", the Court observed in its order. "The teacher is targeting one community. We will go deep into this. Is this the way teachers teach students - is this quality education? State must take responsibility for this incident... Has the school appointed some counselor for the child? If this incident has happened, then it should shake the conscience of the state. It's a serious issue," the bench said.
"If the allegation is correct, this may be the worst kind of physical punishment imparted by a teacher directing other students to assault the victim", the Court observed in its order.
"The teacher is targeting one community. We will go deep into this. Is this the way teachers teach students - is this quality education? State must take responsibility for this incident... Has the school appointed some counselor for the child? If this incident has happened, then it should shake the conscience of the state. It's a serious issue," the bench said.
The bench instructed the state government to appoint an expert child counselor and provide counseling to the victim so that he can overcome his trauma.
The remarks were made while the court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi.
The apex court had issued a notice on the PIL on 6 September, asking the Uttar Pradesh police to apprise it about steps taken to investigate the incident.
The court will next hear the matter on October 30, 2023.
For all the latest News, Opinions and Views, download ummid.com App.
Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.
