[Bidar Sedition] Issue of interrogation of students by Police officers in uniform forwarded to DGP, IG: State informs Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka State government told the Karnataka High Court on Friday that the matter regarding police officers interrogating minor students at Shaheen school, Bidar while wearing uniforms and firearms, has been forwarded to Director General and Inspector General of Police (DGP and IG) for initiating disciplinary action against erring officers..A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum, however, sought further information in this regard including the stage of inquiry.."An affidavit has been filed. However, there is only partial compliance, meaning thereby it has been stated that the matter has been forwarded to Director General and Inspector General of Police for initiating disciplinary action against the persons involved," the Court recorded.It asked the State to file a fresh affidavit regarding the stage of the departmental inquiry initiated by the State. "State government shall also file fresh affidavit with regard on the stage of the proposed departmental inquiry," the order said. .The Court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition concerning questioning of minor students over a play staged by them in relation to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)..During the previous hearing, the Court had also asked the State government to consider issuing directions to Police officers to ensure that such violation of rights of children does not happen again..However, when the matter was taken up for hearing on Friday, the Bench noted that the affidavit filed by the State government was silent on the issue. The Court, therefore, granted four weeks time for the State government to comply with the same.."There was another direction issued to State government to consider of issuing directions to the Police throughout the State which will ensure that such violation of rights of children are not repeated, which is the subject matter of this PIL. The affidavit is silent on this issue. Four weeks time is given to State government to comply with the order dated August 16," the Court directed..Last year, the High Court had issued notice in the PIL, but had refused to pass interim orders, stating that the interrogation of students cannot be stopped altogether.During one of the earlier hearings, the High Court had also questioned whether the police was sufficiently trained to interrogate the students. To this, the State had replied that the students were merely counselled, and not interrogated..The genesis of the case was in a complaint filed by a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) alleging that a play staged by classes 4, 5 and 6 students of Shaheen School on the CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC) contained dialogue that insulted Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Subsequently, the State Police authorities had filed an FIR against the management of the school. .The main allegation against the school administration was that it facilitated the spreading of false information about the newly passed CAA, spread negative opinions about the Parliament's laws among students, and further contributed to communal tension.The Headmistress and a mother of a student were subsequently arrested. They were later enlarged on bail, while the school management also successfully obtained anticipatory bail from the district court in Bidar..The matter will be next heard on October 21.