Bidar sedition case: Enquiry initiated against cops, Karnataka govt tells HC

The Karnataka government on Friday informed the high court that a communication has been forwarded to the state DG&IGP for departmental enquiry against officers who questioned juvenile students in violation of rules. The students of Shaheen Education Society in Bidar were questioned by the police officials in uniform and some even possessing firearms in connection with staging a play against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The government advocate submitted an affidavit to the court in this regard and said that the investigating officer (IO) of the case was not wearing uniform while questioning the students. A division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma directed the state government to file a fresh affidavit in respect of the stage of the proposed departmental inquiry and adjourned the hearing to October 21.

The bench also said that the affidavit filed by the state government is silent on the other orders issued by the court in the previous hearing about issuing directions to the police. The bench on August 16 had directed the state government to consider issuing necessary directions to the police across the state to ensure that such violation of rights of children does not repeat.

In the previous hearing, the bench had perused the photographs submitted in March last year showing students, two boys and one girl, interrogated by five police persons. Among the policemen seen in the photographs, four were in full uniform and at least two of them seen carrying firearms. The court had observed that these acts were prima facie, a serious case of violation of rights of children and provisions of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act.

Anti-CAA play

The play was staged by the students on January 21, 2020. Based on a complaint by an activist, the Bidar police had booked a sedition case against the school management.

The PIL was filed by city-based advocate Nayana Jyothi Jhawar and South India Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring (SICHREM). The petition sought for directions to initiate departmental inquiry against the police personnel for subjecting the students to questioning in violation of JJ Act.