Question from Advocate Chandan Kumar Karna: Mobile phones can be confiscated during exams, but where did state bodies get the right to destroy citizens' private property, ignoring the right to property and privacy protected by the Constitution?
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A 4-minute 25-second video was posted on a Facebook page called ‘Sirha Today’ at 1:48 pm on Wednesday. In the video, the police can be seen putting some mobile phones in a drum filled with water.
The video, titled ‘Mobile phones seized from Sirha district at SEE destroyed by District Police’, has been viewed more than 560,000 times as of the time of writing.
The scene seen in the video is from Sirha. 496 mobile phones and 5 smart watches were destroyed on Thursday in the premises of the District Police Office, Sirha. The mobile phones were kept submerged in water for 24 hours and then broken and destroyed.
Among the mobile phones destroyed in this way, 7 were iPhones and 489 were Android mobile phones. The mobile phones and watches are worth more than Rs 10 million. These mobile phones and watches were seized from students during the SEE and Class 12 examinations, not related to any criminal case.
During the examinations, these materials were taken away from students while they were entering and taking the exams at various examination centers in the district. The then Education Minister of Madhesh Province, Rani Sharma Tiwari, had said that if mobile phones were found to be used in the exams, they would be destroyed.
Based on the same statement, the District Examination Coordination Committee headed by the Chief District Officer had formed a sub-committee to destroy the mobile phones. A five-member committee was formed under the coordination of Rajdev Yadav, Branch Officer of the Education Development and Coordination Unit, Siraha, including representatives from the district administration, district police, armed police and the National Investigation Department.
Students have complained that when the mobile phones were destroyed in this way, many of their memories, important documents and evidence of various matters were also destroyed. ‘It was a mistake to take the mobile phone to the exam, but instead of destroying it, we could have returned it by paying a fine,’ said a student whose mobile phone was confiscated. ‘There were many family memories in the mobile phone, documents and evidence.’
Students and parents had been requesting the District Administration Office to return the mobile phone once and for all by paying a fine instead of destroying it. ‘In this era, mobile phones have become an integral part of people. If they had returned it after paying a fine, the mobile phone would have been saved and money would have been saved in the state treasury,’ said Naveen Yadav, a parent from Siraha. ‘But, the administration did this on a whim.’
Many have criticized the administration’s move in the video that has been made public. In the comment box of the video, many users have sharply criticized this action, saying that it is wrong.
A user named Kewal Singh wrote, ‘This is not good, it would have been better if it had been returned after paying a fine.’ What kind of judges are these .’ Similarly, another user Bipin Chamling Khuwasangucha has written, ‘Stupid CDO, stupid city chief, stupid police chief, DSP, stupid education chief, a stupid community without intelligence .’
Another user named Rabin Kumar has written, ‘If it was really destroyed, this is a wrong move, it would have been better to admonish or fine the person concerned,’ . Most have considered this step of the administration wrong and suggested that other alternatives should be considered.
However, National Examination Board Member Secretary Jung Bahadur Aryal has responded that they do not know anything about it . He said, ‘The National Examination Board has no information about this matter .’
After the administration destroyed the mobile phone in this way, stakeholders have even raised serious legal questions about it. Siraha-based advocate Chandan Kumar Karna says this is the first time he has heard of mobile phones confiscated during exams being destroyed and that this act cannot be considered legally valid.
‘Mobile phones can be confiscated during exams,’ said advocate Karna, ‘However, the concerned body should answer the question of where the state body got the right to destroy the private property of citizens, ignoring the right to property and privacy protected by the constitution. This is completely illegal.’
According to advocate Karna, only prohibited items are destroyed among the items recovered or confiscated in criminal cases. However, other items that do not need to be destroyed are returned to the concerned person after the case is settled or are auctioned as per the court order.
He also pointed out that if this matter reaches the court, action may be taken against the administrative officials involved in this act. ‘This action does not appear to be legal,’ he said, ‘so if this matter goes to court, action may be taken against the officials involved and the court may even compensate the victimized students.’
Meanwhile, Siraha Chief District Officer Surendra Poudel said that despite the criticism currently being leveled at this issue, they have decided to destroy the mobile considering the interests of the students. ‘The mobile could not be returned, there was a risk that the personal data of the concerned persons on the mobile could be misused during the auction,’ he said, ‘that is why we destroyed the mobile.’
