Spare the rod,save children

While corporal punishment is prevalent in all spheres of life,it is most commonly associated with children being punished,including physical or mental,by their teachers. There have been instances of schoolchildren either dying as a result of harsh corporal punishment at the hands of their teachers or committing suicide after bearing the brunt of corporal punishment.

Is corporal punishment outlawed in India?

No,despite many judicial pronouncements,the government has not clearly defined corporal punishment and taken legislative steps to make it an offence punishable under the law. However,there are many laws and statutes that allow recourse to legal steps in case teachers beat schoolchildren or harass him/her mentally or physically.

What is the law dealing with corporal punishment?

While there is no specific law as such,the Indian Penal Code has certain sections to punish teachers if they hit a child or harm him/her. Section 23 of Juvenile Justice Act,2000 provides punishment for cruelty to children. However,this law applies to all juveniles and not just students. The maximum punishment under the Act is imprisonment upto six months and/or fine. As per Article 28(2) of the Convention on Rights of Child,1989,schools have a duty to discipline the students in a manner which doesnt hurt their dignity. In case parents of a minor student are unhappy with corporal punishment given to the ward,they can take resort to the law to seek damages from the school or the teacher. The parents,if they are paying fees to the school,can also approach a consumer court for redressal of their grievance for lack

of service.

What have been important judicial pronouncements by Indian courts with regard to corporal punishment?

In 2001,a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court while dealing with a PIL filed by Parents Forum and Meaningful Education,challenging the provisions of the Delhi School Education Rules,1973,held that corporal punishment was not in keeping with a childs dignity. The judges ruled that subjecting a child to physical violence in the name of discipline or education was cruelty and violated the childs Right to Life guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution. Just because child is small,he or she cannot be denied of these rights. Even animals are protected against cruelty. Our children surely cannot be worse off than animals, the Bench held. The Bench was deciding the issue of legality or otherwise of Rule 37 of the Delhi School Education Rules,1973,which provided for disciplinary measures that schools could adopt,including corporal punishment to be given by the head of the school in cases of persisting impertinence or rude behaviour towards teachers,physical violence,intemperance and serious forms of misbehaviour with other students. Interestingly,the government justified the rule,saying it was necessary for disciplining the students. In 2000,the Supreme Court also banned corporal punishment in schools,but the judgment is yet to be enforced properly.

In Ganesh Chandra Shaha versus Jinraj Somani,it was held that a teacher who caned the students and inflicted fist blows,causing bodily injury and loss of tooth,would be criminally liable and could not claim to have acted in good faith for the benefit of the student.

A Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court declared corporal punishment illegal and directed the government to issue a notification stating that stern action would be taken against teachers found guilty of torturing students.

What has been the response of the state governments to demands that corporal punishment be outlawed and/or be made a punishable offence?

While a majority of state governments claim to have put in place strict rules to prevent instances of corporal punishment in schools,the same have not yielded any result.

Some years ago,the Tamil Nadu government revised the Tamil Nadu Education Rules to provide for a rule saying that every child be given an opportunity to undertake corrective measures. While the amended rules said one corrective step could be to suspend the erring student,the rules were silent on what constituted torture. Also,there were no punitive measures prescribed for violations. In 2003,the Goa Assembly passed the Goa Childrens Act,2003 to ban corporal punishment.