After Deoria, FIRs Filed Across UP Against Journalists, AAP Leaders For Showing Dilapidated State of Govt Schools

New Delhi: A social media journalist and several Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers are among the many individuals facing criminal charges in Uttar Pradesh over allegations of spreading misinformation. They had filmed videos that highlighted infrastructure deficiencies in government-run schools.

The Wire has previously reported that police in Deoria in eastern UP registered a case against youth activist Rajat Singh for filming and circulating a video showing the dilapidated condition of he described as a local government school. It has now emerged that at least eight other criminal cases have been registered across the state – in Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Hardoi, Hathras, Meerut, Lucknow, Amethi and Siddharthnagar – over similar incidents.

A flurry of First Information Reports (FIRs) followed after instructions by chief minister Adityanath issued on August 22, directing senior officials to take strict criminal action against individuals attempting to 'disturb the atmosphere' in the state by circulating "fake" and “misleading” videos concerning government schools.

Several state districts have banned the entry of outsiders, especially of YouTubers and social media users, in government schools without proper authorisation.

Siddharthnagar

Among those booked is Imran Lateef, the provincial state president of the AAP. An FIR was registered against Lateef on August 24, under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 336 (4), 353 (1) and 329 (3), in his hometown, Siddharthnagar, under charges of forgery to harm reputation, publishing or circulating false information, rumours, or reports through electronic means, as well as criminal trespass and house trespass.

A day earlier, on August 23, Lateef had visited a composite upper primary school in Wasa Dargah, located around eight kilometres from the tehsil headquarters in Doomariyaganj.

ये बौद्ध प्रांत के अध्यक्ष @ImranLateefAAP हैं इनका गुनाह ये है की इन्होंने स्कूल की छुट्टी होने के बाद स्कूल का वीडियो बनाकर सोशल मीडिया पर डाल दिया मैंने भी इनका वीडियो अपने ट्विटर पर डाल दिया।
इनके ऊपर FIR हो गई है।@myogiadityanath जी मैं वही वीडियो दुबारा डाल रहा हूँ बताइए… pic.twitter.com/Atq1w1TerW

— Sanjay Singh AAP (@SanjayAzadSln) August 25, 2026

“The gate was broken. Anyone could enter the school. There was only one classroom that was operative even though classes 1 to 8 were held there. The principal’s room did not have a single piece of furniture,” Lateef told The Wire. 

After Lateef uploaded the recorded footage on his Facebook profile, Santosh Kumar Shukla, the block education officer of Doomariyaganj, filed a police complaint accusing him of attempting to tarnish the reputation of the state’s basic education department. Shukla stated that Lateef entered the school premises on a Sunday – a designated holiday – without official authorisation and subsequently uploaded a video he described as “misleading and fabricated.”

Lateef has maintained his stance regarding the video's contents. “The basic education officer of the district can do a spot inspection of the school with me or conduct a forensic probe of the video,” Lateef said. “The government is not willing to see any of its shortcomings. Schools are in a sorry state and we are only exposing the shortcomings. But instead of setting things right, they want to intimidate us by filing false cases.”

Lucknow

In Lucknow, social-media journalist Amit Yadav, who operates the digital news channel Jameeni Khabar, was booked after filming and uploading a video showing unmaintained toilet facilities and a lack of clean drinking water at a local government school. Yadav was charged under sections 223, 353 and 356 of the BNS. These legal provisions relate to disobedience to orders promulgated by a public servant, statements conducing to public mischief, and criminal defamation. Yadav’s channel has a social media presence of 670,000 followers on Facebook, 21,800 followers on Instagram, and 164,000 subscribers on YouTube.

The Lucknow police filed the FIR against Yadav, along with an unidentified associate, on August 24, following a formal complaint filed by Vinita Srivastava, the principal-in-charge of the Begariya Mau upper primary school located in Gosaiganj area.

In her complaint, Srivastava alleged that Yadav and his companion had entered the school compound on August 20 while students were actively taking semester examinations, without seeking prior approval from her or the education department.

“We teachers were busy with the exams, but they deliberately filmed a false video about toilet cleanliness and water supply. I repeatedly asked them to get permission, but they forced us to talk,” Srivastava asserted.

She further alleged that Yadav spent 10 to 15 minutes in the school and coerced two female teaching staff members into answering questions on camera. Srivastava stated that, contrary to the claims made in the uploaded video, the school premises and toilet facilities were fully sanitary.

“There are no such problems in the school. Apart from this, the village head was also present in the school and said that cleaning was done regularly. But due to political bias, with the intention of tarnishing the image of the government and political schemes and the school, misleading news was spread through video on various social media platforms,” Srivastava stated.

The Wire reached out to Yadav for comment, but he did not respond to telephone calls or text messages. However, in a video statement posted on his official Facebook page, Yadav stated that the administration had registered the FIR to suppress critical reporting.

“If you show the reality of the government schools, an FIR will be lodged against you,” he is heard saying in the video. “Mostly the poor children who come to study here are from OBC and Dalit backgrounds. When I showed the truth of what kind of education the government is providing to the children of OBCs and Dalits, the government took offence.”

Meerut

A criminal case was also registered in Meerut against unidentified persons, following a complaint by Sarurpur block education officer Sudarshan Lal. The official alleged that certain individuals attempted to spread “false rumours” and misrepresent the administration's image by uploading video footage of an upper primary school in Kaland on X.

Lal stated that the individual who circulated the clip failed to verify official facts with competent department authorities prior to publication. “This misdeed has been committed with the sole purpose of defaming the school and the government,” Lal said.

Notably, Lal’s police complaint specifically cited an administrative order issued by the district basic education officer prohibiting unauthorised outsiders from entering government school premises. As reported earlier by The Wire, officials in Uttar Pradesh have implemented similar restrictive orders in several other districts.

The FIR, registered on August 22, invoked legal charges of defamation as well as the manufacturing, publishing, or circulating of false statements, rumours, or alarming news intended to promote feelings of enmity, hatred, or ill will between different regional, language, racial, or religious groups and castes.

The legal action was reportedly initiated after Sanyam Panchal – an advocate and the son of Congress district general secretary Jitendra Panchal – visited the school alongside his associate Ayaan Mirza to record video footage. While this has not been independently ascertained, Congress leaders said that both individuals were taken into custody.

On August 25, Meerut Congress president Gaurav Bhati led a public demonstration and submitted an official memorandum to the local sub-divisional magistrate, describing the FIR as “an authoritarian act at the behest of the government.”

Gautam Buddha Nagar

In Gautam Buddha Nagar, AAP youth wing state president Pankaj Awana and four associates were booked  under BNS sections 333, 352, 351 (2) and 3 (5), on charges including criminal intimidation, house trespass, and intentional insult intended to provoke a breach of public peace, following their recording of a video at the composite school in Hoshiarpur, Sector 51, on August 20.

In a police complaint, school teacher Satyaveer Yadav alleged that Awana and his associates forcibly gained entry to the school premises and began recording video without consent. Yadav said that he and the school staff, comprising nineteen female teachers and one male teacher, attempted to stop the group, but they refused to comply and began shouting. Yadav further alleged that Awana used abusive language and threatened staff members, causing distress to their professional standing.

“And while leaving, he went away with his companions threatening to see us again,” Yadav alleged in the police complaint.

Hardoi

In Hardoi, an FIR was registered against an initially unidentified AAP leader under charges of forgery, statements conducing to public mischief, defamation, and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act for circulating video footage regarding Chhoti Asyoli primary school.

Although the initial FIR did not explicitly name the accused, it identified the individual as an AAP representative, which was later confirmed to be party leader Firoz Siddiqui.

Sursa block education officer Dhokhelal Rana said that on August 20, an individual claiming affiliation with the AAP circulated a “misleading” video on X regarding the school, intending to damage the government's reputation and create public disturbance.

Citing the school headmaster’s account, Rana explained that the facility operates both primary standard classes and an Anganwadi center. On the said day, the school had already concluded its session for the day when the accused entered the property at approximately 4:00 PM to record footage. Rana added that the individual assembled local villagers and children playing nearby to record a “misleading video” regarding school operations.

Ghaziabad

An FIR was also registered in Ghaziabad against AAP leader Chandramohan Chauhan for recording a video at an upper primary school in Joya. Education department officials clarified that the targeted building had previously been declared dilapidated.

In the video, Chauhan displayed discarded desi liquor bottles, empty water bottles, and scattered refuse across the school property.

Ali Qambar, the school principal, said that the upper primary and primary schools had been administratively merged, with students from both facilities attending classes together in the primary school building. Qambar alleged that Chauhan engaged in “malicious propaganda” to defame the government and behaved rudely toward staff when they requested that he cease recording. Qambar maintained that Chauhan presented the situation in an “incomplete and misleading manner” by broadcasting footage of the disused, dilapidated structure.

AAP MP Sanjay Singh, who has launched a state campaign criticising the Adityanath administration over public school conditions, said that officials registered the FIR against Chauhan for exposing the truth.

“Yogiji, is the pathshala (school) being turned into a madhushala (liquor shop)? Look: a liquor bottle inside the school, a dilapidated building, and neither children nor teachers present,” Singh said in a post on X.

योगी जी क्या पाठशाला को मधुशाला बनाया जायेगा?
देखिए स्कूल के अंदर दारू की बोतल, जर्जर भवन न बच्चे न टीचर।
पूरी सच्चाई AAP प्रवक्ता C M चौहान ने दिखाई तो आपके उल्लू अधिकारियों ने FIR दर्ज कर ली।
मूर्खों ने FIR में लिखा “स्कूल समायोजित हो चुका है फिर लिखा स्टाफ से अभद्रता की”
मेरा… pic.twitter.com/Os3wBXS6ti

— Sanjay Singh AAP (@SanjayAzadSln) August 26, 2026

Singh also contested the facts outlined in the police complaint. “In the FIR, these fools wrote that the ‘schools had been merged’ and also claimed there was ‘misbehaviour with the staff’. My question is: If there was no staff present, with whom was the misbehaviour committed? You had stated that ‘no school would be closed or merged’ – so how did this school get merged?” he asked.

Hathras

In Hathras, an FIR was lodged against an individual named Kuldeep Yadav for allegedly circulating misleading information concerning a government school in Naoli Lalpur. Yadav was accused of recording a dilapidated, non-operational section of the school in an attempt to present the institution in a negative light.

Vijay Chauhan, a local education department official, explained that a consolidated school operates in Naoli Lalpur village, but a portion of the original structure was lost during the construction of the Mathura-Bareilly highway. The National Highway team demolished it and rebuilt it elsewhere, and some of the old site remains in the same condition, he said.

“It is not being used during the rainy season; classes are held in the remaining area. Due to the loss of a part of the school to the National Highway, the boundary wall of the school was damaged, causing stray animals to litter. The old portion of the school has become low-lying, causing waterlogging in that area. Higher officials have been informed to have all this repaired,” Chauhan stated.

He added that classes are conducted in good facilities and that the school has new toilets.

Amethi

In Amethi, police registered an FIR against unidentified individuals for entering a primary school in the Singhpur block after scheduled school hours. The school principal alleged in the complaint that the individuals attempted to portray the school as non-functional, which was  “totally false and misleading.”

Omar Rashid is an independent journalist.

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