Slapgate: No quality edn if student is penalised on ground of religion: SC

New Delhi, Sep 25: There cannot be any quality education if a student is sought to be penalised on the ground that he belongs to a particular community, the Supreme Court Monday said, as it pulled up the Uttar Pradesh government for shoddy probe in a case where a Muslim schoolboy was allegedly slapped by his classmates on the instruction of his teacher in Muzaffarnagar.
Voicing displeasure over the incident, the top court directed the UP government to appoint a senior IPS officer within a week to probe the case. “The teacher asked the students to beat the victim because of his religion. What kind of education is being imparted?” it said.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal, while directing that the IPS officer shall file a report in the apex court, asked the state government to conduct counselling of the victim and other students involved in the incident by professional counsellors.
“There cannot be any quality education if a student is sought to be penalised on the ground that he belongs to a particular community. There is a prima facie failure on the part of the State to comply with mandatory obligations of RTE Act and relevant rules,” the bench said in its order.
It was hearing a plea filed by Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, seeking speedy investigation in the case.
The top court, which perused the status report filed by the Muzaffarnagar Superintendent of Police, said it has “serious objections” to the manner in which the FIR was registered after a long delay. It said the father of the victim has made specific allegation that his son was beaten in school due to his religious faith.
“The complaint filed by the student’s father related to cognizable offences but no FIR was immediately registered. Only a non-cognizable report was filed initially and the FIR was registered after a long delay on September 6, almost two weeks after the incident. The father’s allegations were not mentioned in the FIR.This is about quality education. Quality education includes sensitive education,” the bench said.
It recorded in its order that if the allegation is correct, this may be the worst kind of physical punishment imparted by a teacher inasmuch as the teacher directed other students to assault the victim. Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj, appearing for the UP government, said the communal angle in the case was blown out of proportion. The bench refused to agree with his submission and said there is a video of the incident. “….it is a very serious issue and we will go deep into it. The manner in which this incident has happened should have shocked the conscience of the State,” it said. The court also took exception to the fact that counselling of the victim was done by the district welfare officer, and said this should have been done by a professional counsellor and that too of all the students involved in the incident. (PTI)