Patna: Patna High Court on Tuesday ruled that children can't be forced to participate in the state government's human chain on January 21 against dowry and child marriage.

A division bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Anil Kumar Upadhyay passed the order on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by one Shiv Prakash Rai.

Rai's advocate Dinu Kumar told the court that according to the order issued by the state education department on January 11 to principals of all schools, children above Class V were asked to participate in the human chain along with all teachers. The teachers, according to the department order, have been assigned to bring children to the event and take them back home for which the teachers would get incentives.

"The state government's instructions imply compulsory participation of all children and teachers, which is unreasonable and arbitrary," Kumar told the bench.

How and why can a child be pressured to come to the event in this shivering cold if he or she does not wish to, Kumar told the court.

Children have not been provided books for their new session, neither have they been supplied warm clothes, but the government wants them to form a human chain, Kumar told the bench.

The order to teachers, Kumar said, is in violation of the Supreme Court directive that teachers should not be engaged in any other duty apart from academic works.

Both judges agreed, as the court then modified the order of compulsory participation to voluntary. "No forcible participation will be allowed during the scheduled human chain and at the same time the government would initiate no coercive action against any students who do not participate in the event. Even those who take part in the event can do so only after getting their parents' consent," the court ruled.

Intervening during the argument, advocate general Lalit Kishore assured the court that no one would be forced and that the government would not initiate any action against those who boycott the event.

Kumar asked what was new about the human chain since the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 have been in existence for a long time. "Last year also a human chain was formed in the state in support of prohibition," he pointed out. "All these are nothing but mere politics and the court should intervene in this matter."

The court said if any forced participation of schoolchildren comes to its notice, the matter would be taken up.