Muzaffarnagar School Slapping | 'Child Is So Traumatised; You Expect Him To Come To Counselling Centre' : Supreme Court To UP Education Dept

The Supreme Court on Monday (October 30) mulled over the idea of appointing an expert agency working in the field of child welfare to visit the victim of the Muzaffarnagar student slapping case and provide counselling to him in his home, after being informed that he was badly traumatised from the incident.The court also expressed dissatisfaction over the state government insisting that the child visit a counselling centre to receive counselling in accordance with a previous order. "The child is so traumatised. You expect him to come to the counselling centre?" the education department was asked during today's hearing. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by activist Tushar Gandhi seeking a proper and time-bound investigation into the incident. The case relates to a primary school teacher in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar instructing schoolchildren to slap their Muslim classmate, a video of which became viral in the social media in August.In September, the court directed the Muzaffarnagar police superintendent to submit a report on the investigation’s progress and the steps taken to protect the minor victim, while issuing notice. During the last hearing, after perusing the police superintendent's report, the bench expressed dissatisfaction with the Uttar Pradesh police's handling of the case, particularly over the delay in filing a first information report (FIR) and the omission of allegations of communal hatred from it. Consequently, the court ordered that a senior police officer investigate the case. The state government has further been asked to provide expert counselling to the victim, as well as the other children involved in the incident, and to provide facilities to the victim in terms of the Right to Education Act and Article 21A of the Constitution. Compliance reports have been sought before the next date of hearing. Notably, the court also noted a "prima facie failure on the part of the State" to adhere to the Right to Education Act and rules, which prohibit the physical and mental harassment of students and their discrimination based on religion and caste. The bench remarked that if the allegations were true, it should shock the conscience of the State. It also observed that there cannot be any quality education if a student is sought to be penalised only on the ground that they belongs to a particular community.Today, the bench revealed that while the home department had filed a status report, the department of education had yet to file its affidavit. The counsel appearing on behalf of the latter submitted that their affidavit was, however, ready to be filed. Additional Solicitor-General KM Nataraj also pointed out as per the court's earlier order, the inspector general of Meerut had also submitted their report. The law officer told the bench that the investigation has been completed and charges under Section 295A (outraging religious feelings or insulting religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code and the second proviso to Section 75 (punishment for cruelty to child) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 had been added. "Government sanction for prosecution under Section 295A is awaited," ASG Nataraj said.In response, the court directed the government to immediately decide the application for prior sanction under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code. Additionally, Advocate Shadan Farasat, appearing for the petitioner, pointed to the trauma caused to the child as a result of the incident to insist on a kind of counselling other than the one the state government has been providing -"The child's father contacted us after reading about this petition on the news. He actually came and met us. The child is extremely traumatised. I have an affidavit from him. He is there in court as well. With permission of the court, I'll hand over the affidavit. As a lawyer, I personally met the child. He was unwilling to speak to any stranger. He will require counselling of a different kind, perhaps continuous counselling by teachers in whichever school he is admitted..."The counsel for the education department informed the bench that a committee of three secretaries has been formed to provide counselling. "Are secretaries to the government competent to give counselling? That has to be done by a child counsellor," Justice Oka promptly shot back."The committee is composed of three doctors who are secretaries. Their names are Arpan Jain, Manoj Kumar, and Kapil Atreya. They are child psychologists," the counsel explained. He added, "They have visited the child's home. We have been informed that the child is introverted since the beginning but we have been making efforts. The child was not coming forward to the counselling centre, so we have requested them to come there.""See, this is the problem with you. Look at the affidavit. The child is so traumatised. You expect him to come to the counselling centre?" Justice Oka asked,...

Muzaffarnagar School Slapping | 'Child Is So Traumatised; You Expect Him To Come To Counselling Centre' : Supreme Court To UP Education Dept

Awstika Das

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