Kids play: Bidar court rejects sedition charges

Bengaluru: A district and sessions court in Karnataka has granted anticipatory bail to five management representatives of Shaheen Primary School stating that the play staged by the students againt the Citizenship (Amendment) Act has "not caused any disharmony in the society".

The court granted anticipatory bail to Abdul Qadeer,60, president of Shaheen Group of Institutions; school headmaster Alauddin, 40; and three members of the school manaagement committee with a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh each.

Mohammed Yousuf Rahim, a local journalist who broadcast the play on his social media account, was also granted anticipatory bail.

The court cited a lack of material for a prima facie case of sedition.

"What the children have expressed is that they will have to leave the country if they do not produce the documents and except that, there is nothing to show that the school has committed the offence of sedition.. The dialogu does not lead to hate or contempt towards the government" district judge Managoli Premavathi observed.

"The drama has not caused any disharmony in the society," the order said.

The case was registered on January 26 on a complaint from Neelesh Rakshyal, a local activist, who had watched the play on Rahim's account.