Muslim boy slapping row: SC chastises UP for disregarding directives

The Muslim youngster and his classmates were reportedly told to smack him for not doing his schoolwork by his teacher, and the Supreme Court chastised the Uttar Pradesh government on Friday for disobeying its order to assign an agency to advise them.

Another accusation against the female teacher at the Muzaffarnagar district school is that she denigrated the victim youngster in a communal way.

A bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Pankaj Mithal ordered the principal secretary of the state’s school education department to be virtually present during the next hearing, noting that the state government was in “total non-compliance” with the court’s order. This was done to prevent the court from taking harsh action.

The top court assigned the Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to recommend a course of action for the youngster and his classmates who were engaged in the event in terms of counseling.

“After hearing the arguments from the parties, we believe that the education department of the Uttar Pradesh government, in particular, has not complied with the many directives this court has issued on a regular basis. The victim child and the other kids engaged in the event are not receiving appropriate counseling.

The affidavits produced outlining the state government’s approach to offering counseling to the youngsters are startling, to put it mildly. As a result, we designate the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, to provide recommendations about the way to provide counseling to the child and other kids. The court mandated that TISS provide a list of qualified child counselors in the state who are willing to provide counseling services while working under TISS’s supervision.

The top court mandated that the UP government provide TISS the necessary infrastructure support and assistance, and that it turn in a report by December 11, the next hearing date.

“In order to prevent the court from taking harsh punishment, we order the Principal Secretary of the Education Department to stay in person. The bench said, “We trust he would personally look into the problem and ensure that instructions are followed.

The instructor was under investigation by the Muzaffarnagar Police for reportedly urging his pupils to slap the Muslim child and making disparaging statements about him in public. The state education agency also sent a warning to the institution.

The teacher was suspended after it was allegedly captured on camera that she had made a communal comment and asked the pupils in Khubbapur village to smack the youngster in Class 2.

On November 6, the Supreme Court had requested that the Uttar Pradesh government help the youngster get into a private school.

Tushar Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi’s great-grandson, made a petition asking for a prompt inquiry into the issue.

The Uttar Pradesh government was instructed by the top court on October 30 to determine as soon as possible whether to allow the school teacher to face charges.

The victim’s father had claimed in an affidavit that the child was “severely traumatized.” The top court had taken note of these claims and asked Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj to obtain information about the availability of a professional organization such as NIMHANS and TISS that could visit the victim’s village and provide counseling to him and other school-age children.