The High Court of Karnataka stayed criminal proceedings initiated against the students of Jain (Deemed-to-be) University on the allegation that they had insulted Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and dalit communities in a skit enacted during inter collegiate Jain University Youth Fest-23 held on February 8, 2023 in the city.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the interim order on July 19 on a petition filed by seven accused students of the Centre for Management Studies (CMS) of the Jain (Deemed-to-be) University, Bengaluru.
“There shall be an interim order of stay of any action taken by the respondent till the next date of hearing and all further proceedings against these petitioners as well,” the Court said while noticing that the proceedings against the two accused members of the teaching faculty was already stayed by the court on July 5.
“If this Court has granted an interim order of stay to the teachers, who had directed the skit which has become the subject matter of the criminal case, the naive students/children, who had only followed the instructions cannot be left in a lurch and the order of rustication cannot be sustained against them,” the court observed in its order. The court on July had stayed proceedings against Dinesh Nilkant Borker, Director of CMS, and Prateek Thodkar P., assistant professor.
The skit was performed as part of ‘MAD ADS’, an event organised during the festival to allow the students to portray their acting skills by authoring short skits.
The petition contended that the skit was satirical in nature and revolves around the reservation system and classification of class system prevailing in society. “In other words, the skit seeks to criticise the entire gamut of reservation system and brings out the message of equality as a moral,” it has been stated in the petition.
While contending that such communication of dissent or opinion is protected under the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19 of the Constitution, it has been claimed in the petition that there is no ingredients, either in the complaint or in the skit, to attract the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and provisions of the Indian Penal Code for creating enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, etc., and for deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings.
