K'taka Police admits its officers in uniform interrogating Shaheen School students was against rules
Bidar: Karnataka Police on Friday admitted in the court that its officers erred while questioning school students in a case pertaining to a play staged in their school, by wearing the uniform and carrying arms during the questioning.
Nagesh DL, the current Superintendent of Police of Bidar district, filed an affidavit in the Karnataka High Court on Friday stating that the officers were uniformed with armed weapons while questioning students in February 2020 and this was against the rules.
The SP further informed the High Court that he has submitted a report to the Director-General and Inspector General of Police (DG-IGP) he has recommended disciplinary action against the investigating police officers in the case.
"I state that it is the responsibility of the investigating officer (the then Deputy Superintendent of Police Basaveshwara Hira) to ensure that strict compliance of sub-rule (5) of Rule 86 of the Juvenile Justice Model Rules 2016 and in view of the same and keeping in mind the order dated 16-08-2021 passed by the Honourable Court, I have sent a report dated 31-08-2021 to the Director-General and Inspector General of Police (DG-IGP) to take appropriate disciplinary action against the concerned persons," read the affidavit submitted in court.
The affidavit was filed two weeks after the Karnataka High Court pulled up the state police over its interrogation of school children.
The police had last year arrested the mother of a student and a teacher from Shaheen School and charged them under Sedition charges following a play staged in Shaheen School in Bidar.
Police officials led by Basaveshwara turned up at the school five times, including in uniform, to question the students who were in the play. The police asked questions about who scripted the play and chose the dialogues which were in it. In particular, the police officials repeatedly questioned Ayesha*, Nazbunissa's daughter and one of the students involved in the play, for the dialogues uttered in it. The seemingly innocuous play, performed in the Dakkani language, questioned the need for CAA and NRC. It had a line that was allegedly derogatory to the Prime Minister.
"The dialogue in my considered opinion does not go to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection towards the government," the district judge Managoli Premavathi had said while granting bail to the duo on February 14, 2020.
In August 2021, a Karnataka High Court bench of former Chief Justice Abhay Oka and Justice NS Sanjay Gowda heard a petition filed by Nayana Jyothi Jhawar and South India Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring. The bench stated that the police action was a serious violation of the Juvenile Justice Act. The court noted that the Special Juvenile Police Unit for Children sub-rule 5 stated that police officers shall wear plain clothes when interacting with children and for dealing with a girl child, women police personnel will be engaged.
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HC to decide if gram panchayat members can continue in Manipur post tenure: SC
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday said the high court would decide whether the elected gram panchayat members, whose five-year tenure was over in Manipur, were entitled to continue in their posts in the event of the appointment of an administrative committee or an administrator.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh said it would like to have the benefit of the view of the high court in the matter and set a three-month time frame to adjudicate the legal question.
"The question that falls for consideration in this case is that whether the elected member of the Gram Panchayat whose five-year tenure is over was entitled to continue as members of the gram panchayat in the event of appointment of administrative committee or administrator, as contemplated under Section 22 of the Manipur Panchayati Raj Act of 1994," the bench noted.
The Manipur government’s counsel said the state could not hold panchayat elections due to the unprecedented violence.
"Since, we would like to have the advantage of the opinion of the high court, we dispose of the special leave petition without expressing any opinion on merits, with the request to the chief justice of Manipur High Court to post the main case before a division bench at the earliest. We further request the division bench, before whom the matter is listed, to provide expeditious hearing with an endeavour to resolve the controversy within three months," the bench said.
The bench noted that provision of Manipur Panchayati Raj Act was amended to substitute the word "cease" with the word "continue" with respect to the tenure of the elected members of the gram panchayat.
The petitioners have challenged a high court order and submitted that since elections in gram panchayat could not be held in Manipur for various reasons, the previously elected members of the panchayat were entitled to continue as per the amended Section 22 (3) of 1994 Act.
Section 22 deals with the power of deputy commissioner to appoint an administrative committee or an administrator for a period of six months, which will then oversee the election.
Section 22 (3) of the law says once the administrative committee or an administrator is appointed by the deputy commissioner, the elected members of earlier gram panchayat shall cease to exist.
The top court said what has been challenged before it was an interlocutory order of the high court and the main petition in which the question of law that had been raised was still pending.
The original petitioners before the high court were elected representatives at the fifth general elections for gram panchayats and the zilla parishads who sought a direction to continue in the office beyond the period of five years as stipulated by law as elections were last held in 2017.
They sought to continue as panchayat members till the time the state election commission notified the election for the sixth general elections for gram panchayats and zilla parishads.
On February 29, last year, the high court in its interim order gave liberty to Manipur government to appoint an administrative committee for each gram panchayat and zilla parishad in accordance with law and the provision of the Act.
