BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court quashed criminal proceedings initiated against Priyank Kanoongo, chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), based on his tweet over Darul Uloom Sayideeya Yatheemkhana, an unregistered orphanage housing 200 children and functioning in violation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
Justice Nagaprasanna passed the order while allowing the petition filed by Kanoongo, questioning the crime registered by Ashraf Khan with the Devarajeevanahalli police.
After visiting the orphanage, the petitioner submitted a report to the state government, stating that the Yateemkhana (institution providing care and shelter to destitute orphans) was not fulfilling the infrastructural requirement.
There were five rooms of approximately 100sqft each and about 150 children were staying in the rooms; 16 children slept on four bunk beds and 150 children slept in two big halls used for prayers.
None of the children were sent to school, no recreational facilities were available in the orphanage and the conditions were in violation of the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, and it was also negligence on the part of the state government, the report said.
The court noted that the petitioner had tweeted that “they are children who are living a medieval Taliban life”. This can at best be a metaphor used by the petitioner to describe their living conditions. It had never been tweeted that Taliban-like terrorist activities are taking place in the madrasa. It is not a madrasa but an orphanage.