Teachers can’t cane students, but not all cases criminal:

Teachers can’t cane students, but not all cases criminal: 

HC Kochi : 06.07.2025

Kerala high court ruled recently that schoolteachers are barred from inflicting corporal punishment on children — even in the name of discipline — but not all such conduct amounts to a criminal offence under penal law. J

ustice C Jayachandran delivered the judgment while hearing three petitions filed by teachers facing criminal proceedings for allegedly beating students. The teachers had sought to quash the cases against them. Citing section 17 of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, the court underscored that children cannot be subjected to physical punishment or mental harassment, and that violations invite disciplinary action under service rules. However, it stressed that the law doesn’t by itself establish criminal liability. “I cannot, therefore, set and subscribe my hands to the proverb ‘Spare the rod, spoil the child’,” the judge said, rejecting the notion that physical punishment can ever be legally justified. 

HC also referenced guidelines from National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), the country’s commitments under UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and provisions of Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act. On the question of criminal culpability, the bench said section 82 of JJ Act — meant to address corporal punishment — does not apply to schoolteachers or educational institutions. As a result, it held that “caning a student within reasonable and justifiable limits” for disciplinary reasons is not an offence under that section. TNN