– Akhilesh Tripathi
Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court has refused to grant bail to a teacher from Muzaffarnagar, who instructed other students to slap a Muslim student. In August last year, Tripta Tyagi, a teacher and principal, reportedly had a Muslim student slapped by other students in the school and made communal remarks.
A teacher and principal of Neha Public School in Muzaffarnagar had, in August last year, ordered other students to slap a Muslim student from her school. Additionally, the teacher, Tripta Tyagi, reportedly used communal slurs against Muslims.
At the time, a video of the incident went viral, showing Tripta Tyagi making communal remarks against Muslims. This led to a major uproar, and an FIR was registered against her at the Mansurpur police station in Muzaffarnagar. The charges against her included IPC Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 295(A) (deliberate acts intended to outrage religious feelings), and Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act.
However, no action was taken against Tripta Tyagi, reportedly due to her strong connections with BJP leaders.
Tripta Tyagi made every effort to suppress the case. The activist Tushar Gandhi filed a PIL in the Supreme Court, demanding a proper and time-bound investigation into the matter.
During the SC hearing, the Uttar Pradesh Police and the state government informed the court that an FIR had been registered, an investigation was underway, and the matter was being monitored. However, the SC expressed dissatisfaction with the state’s response and ordered the monitoring of the investigation through a senior police officer. Additionally, the court directed the state to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Right to Education Act and Article 21A of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to education.
In a subsequent hearing, the SC criticised the state government’s approach, which included its reluctance to facilitate the victim’s admission to a private school affiliated with CBSE. The state government argued against the private school admission, citing long travel distances and socio-economic challenges faced by other students.
The petitioner’s lawyer, Shadan Farasat, informed the SC that Rule 5 of the Uttar Pradesh RTE Rules, 2011, exists to protect children from religious discrimination in schools. However, the authorities are neither acknowledging this issue nor addressing it.
In response, the SC highlighted the “prima facie failure” of the state to comply with the RTE Act and its provisions, which prohibit physical and mental harassment of students as well as discrimination based on religion or caste.
Despite extensive hearings in SC and strong criticism of the state government, no action has yet been taken against Tripta Tyagi. She managed to avoid consequences through her influential connections, but she could not get the case dismissed. She applied for bail in a Muzaffarnagar court, but after a hearing, the court rejected her bail application on October 16. Following this, she approached the Allahabad High Court seeking bail.
Her bail plea was heard on November 23 by a bench led by Justice Deepak Verma. Justice Verma rejected her bail application and directed her to surrender before the relevant lower court within two weeks from the date of the order and to apply for regular bail there.
With the HC rejecting her bail plea and the lower court having already denied her bail earlier, Tripta Tyagi now has no chances of obtaining relief. The rejection of her bail plea by the Allahabad HC also dealt a serious blow to BJP leaders who had been allegedly shielding her so far.
The victim’s side has expressed relief over the rejection of the bail plea of the accused teacher by the High Court. The victim’s lawyer, Kamran Zaidi, welcomed the HC’s decision, stating, “The subordinate court in Muzaffarnagar had already rejected Tripta Tyagi’s bail plea on October 16. Now, it will be very difficult for her to secure bail from the same court. We welcome the HC’s decision. It is absolutely the right decision.”
