In a big move, the Karnataka High Court on Wednesday quashed charges of sedition against the management of Shaheen School in Bidar for staging a critical play against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Live Law reported.
On January 26, 2020, students of classes 4, 5, and 6 staged a play on the CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC) following which an FIR was filed.
The case against the school was booked in 2020, during the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rule, based on the complaint of a member of the Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Nilesh Rakshala.
It was alleged that the students were instructed to say things that made them feel ‘anti-patriotic’ and that they were asked to raise anti-Modi.
The complaint also alleged that the children were trained to say that if the Parliament implemented the CAA, NRC, and National Population Register (NPR), Muslims would need to leave the country.
The state police then filed a case under several sections mentioned below:
- 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace)
- 505(2) (Statements conducing to public mischief)
- 124A (Sedition)
- 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony).
However, the case was reponed and the court found no evidence to back these claims. The court noted that the children were not forced to be part of the play and neither did it incite violence, and hatred nor was it seditious.
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