[ad_1]
The management of Shaheen School in Bidar, Karnataka state has expressed its satisfaction with the June 14 order of the Supreme Court which nullified the sedition case against the school authorities.
A case was registered against the school in 2020 under sections related to sedition and promotion of enmity between communities after a school play criticizing PM Modi was staged, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) were posted on social media. The order issued by the Single Judge Panel of Judge Hemant Chandanjodar became publicly available recently.
“We are all happy…we expected the court to give us justice and that’s what happened,” said Thomas Madikeri, CEO of the Shaheen Education Foundation. Indian Express.
Recalling the early days of the case, he said at first it was psychological torture for the children for about a month or two, after which the police officers stopped coming to the school and questioning the children.
The interrogation process later came to the notice of the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, which informed the Bidar Police and Karnataka DGP officials. The Karnataka High Court in its proceedings in August 2021 also indicated that violations of the Juvenile Justice Act appeared to have taken place.
Initially, the father of one of the children was arrested along with the headmistress, although they were not named in the FIR presented to the Supreme Court.
“This was a huge mistake by the police. They arrested these people without an FIR… They were in jail for about 12 days without being named in the FIR, but only in the remand notes.” He also noted that the experience of having to go to hearings and police stations while the case was in progress was stressful for the defendants.
Thomas also said that a first information report had been filed against other members of the school administration, although they were not arrested and released on bail. The FIR in question alleged that the play was posted on social media to promote hostility between the communities. The report stated that “the principal and management of Shaheen School committed an act that is anti-patriotic in nature by using the students.”
The Karnataka High Court, while dropping the case, noted that the incident did not meet the components of sedition and promotion of enmity between communities, while warning that the use of “insulting” language against public officials was inappropriate.
[ad_2]
