The State of Uttar Pradesh informed a division bench of the top court that a chargesheet has been filed in the case concerning a primary school teacher in Muzaffarnagar who allegedly instructed schoolchildren to slap their Muslim classmates, following the acquisition of the necessary sanction.

A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan has issued a directive to the state, instructing them to ensure that a senior IPS officer oversees the prosecution process.

Back in March, the Uttar Pradesh government informed the court that counseling recommended by TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences) was being provided to the children involved in the Muzaffarnagar Slapping incident.

Previously, the Supreme Court had strongly criticized the Uttar Pradesh government for its delay in offering counseling to the child from Muzaffarnagar, who suffered trauma after being slapped by classmates following their teacher's instructions.

Last year, the bench had instructed the Uttar Pradesh government to explore counseling options for the affected child.

The court had additionally directed the Uttar Pradesh government to appoint a Senior IPS Officer to oversee the investigation into the recent incident of a Muslim child being slapped in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh.

On September 6, 2023, a division bench of the Supreme Court issued notice in the current plea. Controversy ensued following the circulation of a viral video depicting the incident on social media. It's worth noting that the accused teacher, Tripta Tyagi, made reference to the boy's faith and instructed his classmates to beat him severely.

Tyagi, the teacher concerned, was booked under Sections 323 (causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the Indian Penal Code.

Case Title: Tushar Gandhi vs. State of Uttar Pradesh and Ors