Karnataka HC dismisses sedition case against Bidar school for anti-CAA play

The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday dismissed a sedition case brought in 2020 against Shaheen School in Bidar over anti-CAA drama performed in the school.

The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday dismissed a sedition case brought in 2020 against the administration of Shaheen School in Bidar for performing a play that was critical of the Citizenship Amendment Act, reported Live Law.

The play was allegedly seditious and inflammatory, and police detained the headmistress and a student's mother. According to them, students in Grades 4, 5, and 6 disrespected Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Even while news reports refuted the claim, other social media users claimed that the play contained a discussion about assaulting the prime minister with a slipper. The goal of the performance was to increase public awareness of Muslim issues with the Citizenship Amendment Act.

A member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad complained to the Bidar Police, who then filed the sedition case in response. The group is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's student wing. Additionally, the police came under fire for interrogating young students, including a nine-year-old. The students also received a summons to the police station.

The Bidar Sessions Court had acquitted the headmistress and the child's mother, holding that the charges of sedition could not stand. The Kalaburagi Bench acquitted the remaining four persons, including the management officials, on a plea filed in the Karnataka High Court against the charges of sedition. 

The Karnataka High Court had stated in August 2021 that the interrogation was a "severe violation" of the Juvenile Justice Act's provisions and child's rights.

After a petition was filed alleging that the police had broken the law by questioning the pupils without the presence of their teachers or parents, the High Court took up the case. The petitioners, a lawyer, and a human rights organisation, said that interrogating the children in a hostile environment had harmed their mental health.

The CAA provides citizenship to persecuted minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who have lived in India for six years.