'School Teacher Can Enforce Discipline, Correct Pupil': Kerala High Court Quashes Case Against Teacher For Caning Student

In a recent judgment, the Kerala High Court quashed the criminal proceedings initiated against a school teacher for beating his students with a cane.Justice C. Pratheep Kumar referred to various precedents, which discussed the extent of corporal punishment that can be inflicted on a child by a teacher. It was observed: “From the above decisions it is clear that the school teacher, in view of his peculiar position, has authority to enforce discipline and correct a pupil, who is put in his charge. When a parent entrusts a child to a teacher, he on his behalf impliedly consents for the teacher to exercise over the student such authority. When a student does not behave properly or act according to the rules of a school, and if the teacher gives him a corporal punishment for improving his character and conduct, the court has to ascertain whether the said act of the teacher was bona fide or not. If it is found that he had acted with a good intention, only to improve or correct the student, he is within his limits.”The offences against the petitioner were those under Section 324 [Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means] IPC and Section 75 [Punishment for cruelty to child] of Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act 2015.After perusing the First Information Statement (FIS), the Court noticed that the teacher had intervened in a fight among students, who were beating each other with sticks. It also remarked that the teacher beat the legs of only those students who had engaged in the fight.The Court further noted that there was no explanation given regarding the four days' delay in reporting the incident and that the child was not treated by any doctor. Since there was no evidence to show that the victim sustained bodily injury, the Court came to the conclusion that only minimum force was used by the petitioner while caning the students.This action, the Court felt, was an attempt to correct the students and was not intended to cause any hurt to them. It found that the petitioner's conduct does not amount to an offence.Thus, the Court allowed the petition and quashed the proceedings initiated against the petitioner.Case No: Crl.M.C. No. 7164 of 2024Case Title: Abhuthahir v. State of Kerala and Anr.Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Ker) 669Counsel for the petitioner: V.A. Johnson (Varikkappallil)Counsel for the respondents: A. Vipin Narayan – Sr. Public ProsecutorClick to Read/Download JudgmentRead also: Corporal Punishment By Teachers Not Crime Unless Penal Law Provides But Extreme/Sadistic Actions Can Constitute Offence: Kerala High Court Teachers Liable Under Juvenile Justice Act For Assaulting Children But Mere Corrective Measures To Enforce Discipline Not Punishable: Kerala HC"Some Students Not In The Habit Of Respecting Teachers": Kerala High Court Quashes Case Against Teacher For Hitting Student

'School Teacher Can Enforce Discipline, Correct Pupil': Kerala High Court Quashes Case Against Teacher For Caning Student

K. Salma Jennath

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