The Supreme Court on Monday directed that investigation into the incident where a school student was slapped by classmates on instructions of a teacher in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, should be supervised by a senior IPS officer nominated by the State. Supreme Court slammed Uttar Pradesh government saying that the manner in which the incident has happened should shake the conscience of the State. Supreme Court said that there cannot be any quality education if a student is sought to be penalised only on the grounds that he belongs to a particular community. Supreme Court also directed the State to ensure proper counselling is provided to the victim by a professional counsellor and also to the students who were dictated to take part in the incident.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had directed the Muzaffarnagar Superintendent of Police to file a detailed report on the steps taken for the investigation of the case, as well as to protect the child and his family. Tushar Gandhi, the great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, had moved the Supreme Court seeking action against the teacher who allegedly encouraged students to slap another student from the minority community. The Muzaffarnagar police had booked the teacher, Tripta Tyagi, a day after a video showed her asking her students to slap a class 2 boy in Khubbapur village. She also made communal remarks against the child, as heard in the video. The school was also served a notice by the state education department in connection with the matter.The plea by Tushar Gandhi has called for additional charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to be added to the FIR, and for protection to be given to the victim child and his family, as they have allegedly been put under social pressure to withdraw the complaint. The matter will now be heard on 25 September.