The Advocate-General on Monday told the High Court of Karnataka that the PIL petition raising questions about police action at Shaheen School in Bidar in connection with a sedition case appears to have been filed to fight the case on behalf the accused and to demoralise the police.
A submission in this regard was made during a hearing before a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Ashok S. Kinagi. The petition was filed by city-based advocate Nayana Jyothi Jhawar and the NGO South India Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring.
Advocate-General Prabhuling K. Navadgi also contended that the letters, written by the parents of some of the children studying at the school, to the Chief Justice contained fluent English and their contents are identical in nature. However, the parents have disowned the letters, Mr. Navadgi claimed, pointing out that petitions are filed on similar grounds before the High Court as well as the apex court.
When the Bench sought a reply on the photo of policemen in uniform interacting with the schoolchildren produced by the petitioner’s counsel, the A-G said he would verify the photograph with the investigating officer. He also pointed out that the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules state that the police officer interacting with children shall be, as far as possible, in plain clothes and not in uniform.
In its earlier response to the court’s query on the allegation made in the petition that policemen in uniform had questioning the children, the government had said that the investigating officer was in plain clothes, but a police videographer, who was initially in uniform on a particular day, was told to change the uniform.
The Bench adjourned further hearing on the case till March 26 while directing the investigating officer to submit a response to the photograph in the form of an affidavit.
