New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to immediately decide on granting sanction to prosecute a school teacher accused of instructing her students to slap a Muslim classmate for failing to complete his homework.

The top court was informed that section 295A of IPC, which deals with deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs, has been invoked against Tripti Tyagi, the school teacher, along with second proviso of section 75 of the Juvenile Justice (care and protection of children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act).

The second proviso of section 75 of the JJ Act pertains to the offence of assault or abuse upon a child, causing the minor unnecessary mental or physical suffering, by any person employed by or managing an organisation, which is entrusted with the care and protection of the child.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal, after perusing the affidavit filed by the Inspector General of Police of Meerut Range said in its order, “It is stated that the investigation has been completed and government sanction for prosecution under section 295A is awaited. We direct the government to immediately take decision on the request for grant of sanction.”

“When it comes to the future of the victim child and his welfare, the state cannot treat this litigation as adversarial,” it said.

The top court was hearing a plea filed by Tushar Gandhi, the great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, seeking speedy investigation in the case.

This story was originally published in deccanherald.com. Read the full story here .