BENGALURU: Acting on a public interest litigation filed in relation to a sedition case filed against a school run by Shaheen Education Society in Bidar, the Karnataka High Court on Friday directed the government advocate to find out from the state government as to whether school-going children were questioned by policemen in uniforms.
The division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Hemant Chandangoudar issued the direction after a senior counsel for the petitioner, Prof Ravivarma Kumar, argued that policemen in uniforms interrogated about 85 children, aged between 9 and 12 years. Alleging that the police have violated the Juvenile Justice Act and Criminal Procedure Code, the petitioners questioned the sedition case registered by the Bidar police over an anti-CAA play.
The petition was filed by advocate Nayana Jyothi Jhawar and South India Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring (SICHREM), pleading the court to issue directions for a departmental inquiry against the police personnel and to take action against them for allegedly questioning minor students.
They also requested the court to direct the state to pay a compensation to the parents of the children for questioning them illegally.