No corporal punishment be meted out to student: Centre to SC

Updated on: Saturday, July 23, 2011

The Centre said no corporal punishment be meted out to school students and justified its decision to prohibit such coercive action in educational institutions saying it is against the right to free and compulsory education.

"Physical punishment and mental trauma are counter-productive. They may cause a child to become even more defiant and rebellious. Children's bodies are tender and vulnerable. There are examples galore of grievous injury to children on account of physical punishment," Attorney General G E Vahanvati said while justifying the provision on banning corporal punishment in the Right to Education Act.

Appearing before a bench headed by the Chief Justice S H Kapadia, he said such coercive action is violative of child rights.

"Any kind of physical punishment and mental trauma is potentially unsafe and injurious to health and violative of child rights and is therefore prohibited. It is important for us to work towards positive discipline in which we build a mutually respectful relationship with the child through which the child learns the value of non-violence, empathy, human rights and courtesy," he said.

"The prohibition on corporal punishment or mental harassment is a necessary concomitant of the right to free and compulsory elementary education," the AG said.

"Educationists the world over are clear that what leads to creating a mature citizen is the provision of a democratic learning environment in the form of a nurturing school, not a correctional centre," he said.

The apex court was hearing petitions filed by different schools challenging different provisions of the Right to Education Act which includes the decision to reserve 25 per cent of seats for economically weaker sections(EWS).

No corporal punishment be meted out to student: Centre to SC

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