On Monday, the Uttar Pradesh government informed the Supreme Court that the school teacher who allegedly encouraged students to slap a Muslim classmate might be subjected to charges under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

According to Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), any intentional and malicious act that aims to offend the religious sentiments of any group by insulting their religion or religious beliefs is considered a punishable offense.

Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj represented the Uttar Pradesh Police and the State's Home Department in the case today. He mentioned that they are invoking Section 295A of the IPC against the teacher. This decision was made instead of applying Section 153A of the IPC, which deals with promoting enmity between different groups. Nataraj also mentioned that they are currently waiting for approval from the State government to proceed with the case under Section 295A of the IPC.

A panel consisting of Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal has instructed the State to promptly make a decision on this matter. The Court has also expressed its intention to potentially involve professionals from institutions such as the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) or the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS) to provide counseling to the victim student and his classmates.

The court has informed the State that they are contemplating the appointment of a professional agency to provide counseling for the victim and the other students. The case has been scheduled for the next hearing on the following Monday.

The Supreme Court was addressing a petition filed by Tushar Gandhi, who is the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. Tushar Gandhi sought legal action against the school teacher, Tripta Tyagi. Tyagi is alleged to have made derogatory comments about a Muslim student's religion and spoke negatively about Muslim children, instructing the classmates to physically harm him. A video of this incident gained widespread attention on social media. Subsequently, the private school located in Khubbapur village was later The teacher, in the meantime, issued a video statement in which she acknowledged making a mistake. However, she maintained that there was no communal aspect to the incident.closed or sealed.

In response to the widespread public outrage sparked by the incident, Tushar Gandhi took the matter to the Supreme Court. He sought a thorough and time-bound independent investigation into the incident, as well as measures to address and prevent violence against school children, particularly those from religious minority groups.

In previous hearings, the Court expressed dissatisfaction with how the Uttar Pradesh Police and government were conducting the investigation into the case. The Court noted that the first information report (FIR) did not include critical allegations. Consequently, the Court instructed that the investigation should be led by a senior Indian Police Services (IPS) officer chosen by the State government. The Court also directed the nominated officer to assess whether the offense of hate speech under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was applicable in this case.

The Court also issued instructions to the State government to guarantee that professional counseling is provided to both the victim-child and the classmates by a qualified counselor.

In today's ruling, the Court has instructed the relevant State departments to submit compliance reports regarding the directions it had issued earlier. These reports, which were still pending, are expected to provide updates on the actions taken to address the situation.