Social activist Yogita Bhayana files plea in SC seeking to quash FIR in Bidar sedition case

Social activist Yogita Bhayana on Thursday filed a PIL in the Supreme Court seeking to quash of the FIR registered against a school, teacher and widowed parent for a play critical of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) in Bidar, Karnataka.

Bhayana, in his petition filed through his lawyer Utsav Singh Bains, sought a direction from the Apex Court for a proper mechanism to deal with misuse of the sedition law by governments.

She had filed the present plea under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution and sought relief for directing the Respondents -- Union of India and Karnataka Government -- to quash FIR registered in connection seditious charges against the school management, teacher and a widowed parent of a student for staging a play criticizing CAA, NRC, and NPR.

The petition, a copy accessed by ANI, claimed that the said school's Principal stated that they did not know for what reason sedition charges have been invoked against the school.

The police have also questioned students - videos and screengrab of CCTV footage showing them speaking to students were shared widely on social media, prompting criticism, the petitioner said.

The petition, further quoting the Principal of the said school, alleged that on one occasion, police in uniform questioned students, with no child welfare officials present - an accusation, however, denied by the police.