Allahabad High Court denies anticipatory bail to teacher who told students to slap Muslim classmate

The Allahabad High Court recently refused to grant anticipatory bail to a teacher accused of instructing students to beat a Muslim child in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar as punishment in school..Single-judge Justice Deepak Verma directed the accused, Tripta Tyagi, to surrender before the concerned court within two weeks."Considering the aforesaid alternative prayer of the applicant, it is directed that if applicant surrenders before the concerned Court below within two weeks from today and applies for regular bail, the bail application shall be decided expeditiously by the courts below in accordance with law laid down by the Apex Court in the case of Satender Kumar Antil Vs. Central Bureau of Investigation and another, reported in 2021 SCC Online SC 922," the Court said in its order passed on November 23.Nevertheless, Court further directed that no coercive action be taken against the teacher for two weeks or until she surrenders before the lower court..Tyagi was seen goading students to slap a Muslim student. Tyagi is said to have made derogatory remarks about the Muslim student's religion and instigated classmates to beat him.The incident had sparked outrage after the video of the child being slapped went viral on social media. The school where the incident took place was later sealed.Tyagi later released a video denying any communal angle but acknowledging that she made a mistake.During the hearing of the plea for anticipatory bail, the counsel for Tyagi argued that she was innocent and was falsely implicated in the present case due to ulterior motive. She also said that the offence carries a punishment of less than 3 years imprisonment.The State government opposed the plea.The Court after considering the arguments proceeded to reject the plea.Advocates Ashutosh Singh and Neetu appeared for the teacher..The Supreme Court is also seized a plea was moved by Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, seeking a time-bound and independent probe into the matter as well as measures to address violence against students belonging to religious minority.The top court has been passing directions in that matter from time to time..[Read Order]