Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Madhya Pradesh High Court (MPHC), Jabalpur has put a cost of Rs 25k on the Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary of Education Department and Indore Collector for not filing reply in the case of providing free education to a gangrape victim and her sister. The court had given multiple extensions to the government for filing reply but to no avail. Meanwhile, the court has also served notice to a private school. The double bench of Chief Justice Ravi Malimath and Justice Vishal Mishra expressed their displeasure over the government on Thursday. The High Court has directed administrative officers to personally deposit the cost in the High Court Registry.
The next hearing of the case will be on February 19. Notably, former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan had assured free education to the victim and her sister. Despite government assurance, the school management had sent a notice to the victim regarding fees. Taking suo moto cognisance of the news published in the newspaper, the Chief Justice had ordered to take up the case as public interest litigation (PIL). During the hearing on Thursday, the government again sought time to submit its reply over which the court expressed its displeasure. What was the case In June 2018, two accused had kidnapped a seven-year-old girl from school and raped her in Mandsaur district.
The accused had tried to slit the victim’s throat twice and left her to die. Fortunately, the doctors had saved the girl by performing multiple surgeries while the then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had promised the victim and her family that his government would take care of her and her sister's education. The government had enrolled both the sisters in a private school in Indore but the school management had sent a notice of outstanding amount of Rs 14 lakh to the victim, to Indore Collector and to the Education Department.
