SC tells UP to ask senior IPS officer to probe school slapping

The Supreme Court on Monday told the Uttar Pradesh government to name a senior IPS officer to probe the slapping of a schoolboy by classmates on their teacher’s prodding in Muzaffarnagar which it said was a "serious" matter.

Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal said the IPS officer shall file a report in the apex court and asked the state government to provide professional counselling to the victim and the other students.

The court observed that there was a prima facie failure by the Uttar Pradesh government to provide quality, free and compulsory education to children up to 14 years without any discrimination on the issue of caste, creed or gender.

The bench asked the state government to furnish a status report on implementation of the Right to Education Act in schools across the state in four weeks.

It was hearing a plea filed by Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, seeking speedy investigation in the case.

On September 6, the Supreme Court directed the Superintendent of Police in Muzaffarnagar to submit a status report in the case. The officer was also asked about steps taken to protect the student and his parents.

Muslim boy

The Uttar Pradesh government’s reply was sought by September 25.

The police had booked the teacher for making communal comments and allegedly ordering her students to slap a Muslim classmate for not doing his homework.

The female teacher was booked after a video showed her asking the students to slap the Class 2 boy in Khubbapur village and for making a communal remark.

(With agency inputs)