The
Supreme Court on Monday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to appoint a
senior IPS officer to probe the case of a school boy who was allegedly slapped
by his classmates on the instruction of his teacher in Muzaffarnagar, terming
the incident as "serious"
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, who were involved in the
case, by professional counsellors.
It
said there is a prima facie case of failure on part of the Uttar Pradesh
government in complying with the provisions of Right To Education Act, which
deals with providing quality, free and compulsory education to children up to
14 years, without any discrimination on the basis of caste, creed or gender.
The
bench asked the state government to furnish a status report on implementation
of the RTE Act in schools across the state in four weeks, while terming the
incident as "serious".
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 top court had directed the Muzaffarnagar Superintendent of
Police to submit a status report in the case.
It
had asked the SP to inform it about measures taken to protect the student and
his parents.
The
top court had also issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and sought its
reply by September 25.
The
Muzaffarnagar Police had booked the teacher accused of making communal comments
and allegedly ordering her students to slap a Muslim classmate for not doing
his homework.
The
school was also served a notice by the state education department in connection
with the matter.
The
teacher was booked after a video showed her allegedly asking students to slap
the Class 2 boy in Khubbapur village and also making a communal remark.