Madras High Court Questions Rationale Behind Filing Of Criminal Case Against School For Taking Students To PM Modi's Road Show

Justice G Jayachandran also remarked that the police should not end up filing criminal cases against school management as a knee-jerk reaction to media reports. The court also remarked that filing criminal cases against the school for such incidents will have a large-scale impact on the future participation of children in political rallies.

The court was hearing a plea filed by a headmistress of a school in Coimbatore for quashing a criminal case registered against the school management for allegedly taking 32 school students in uniform to see the roadshow conducted by PM Modi in Coimbatore on March 18, 2024. The police had registered cases for the offenses under Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 based on a complaint by the District Child Protection Officer.

In her plea, the headmistress argued that the complaint was false and lodged with a vindictive attitude to harass the school. She added that the school had taken necessary measures to send the students safely with their parents. It was also argued that the complaint did not attract the offenses under the JJ Act.

On Thursday, the court wondered how an offense under the JJ Act was registered against the school management as the offence deals with assaulting, abandoning, abusing, exposing, or wilfully neglecting children causing them mental or physical suffering. To this, the State replied that the school had deliberately taken the students to the crowded road show, thus exposing them to mental and physical suffering. The court however wondered how the case was registered solely on the complaint of the Protection Officer, who herself had lodged the complaint based on media reports, especially when none of the parents had raised any complaint.

The court also pointed that no untoward incident had taken place on account of the students' participation in the rally and asked the City Police to explain how the mere presence of students at the road show necessitated the filing of the criminal case. The court also cautioned the police against filing criminal cases based on media reports.

The court adjourned the case to April 8, 2024, and asked the law officers to explain the rationale for filing the criminal cases on such a date.

Case Title: M/s S Pukal Vadivu v State

Case No: Crl OP 8089 of 2024