Police register FIR over ‘fake’ claim of teachers being told to count dogs

Case registered against unknown persons on complaint by DoE; AAP cites ‘circulars’ assigning additional duties to teachers; SC-mandated awareness duties being wrongly projected, says Sood

The Delhi police on Friday registered an FIR against unknown persons for allegedly circulating “misinformation” that government teachers were tasked with counting stray dogs near schools, said an officer.

The case was registered under Sections 353 (circulating false information with intent to cause public mischief) and 192 (giving provocation with intent to cause riot) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The development came a day after the Directorate of Education (DoE) filed a complaint at the Civil Lines police station, stating that deliberate attempts were made to “spread false and fabricated news” and cause confusion among teachers and non-teaching school staff. The DoE also said that teachers are only involved in academic work and have “not been asked to count stray dogs”.

Earlier this week, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal alleged that the government had asked teachers to count dogs and accused it of “insulting teachers and ruining schools”.

‘Workers threatened’

AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj said the government had been threatening party volunteers with FIRs.

Challenging the DoE’s statement, AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha claimed that teachers had been assigned dog-related duties through several official circulars.

“On November 20, there was a DoE circular saying that there should be a nodal officer in every school. On December 2, a circular asked for details regarding the appointment of nodal officers and on December 5, a circular by the Deputy Director, DoE (North West district) listed the names of teachers from different schools on stray dog-related duties,” claimed Mr. Jha.

“If this circular was issued without the DoE or the Education Department’s knowledge, was it withdrawn? And will there be any action against the officials?” he said.

‘Fake news by AAP’

Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood said teachers are assigned several duties by the head of school (HoS), including cleanliness and exam duties.

“If, on the basis of a Supreme Court order, an HoS assigned a duty to a teacher to spread awareness on dog bites, ensure safety, do you think it is about counting dogs? I have sympathy for AAP’s intelligence,” he said at a press conference.

Mr. Sood said that “fake news and misinformation were being spread on social media” by AAP leaders, especially Mr. Kejriwal.