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Vow On Cane Code
By Our Legal Reporter
The Daily Telegraph, Calcutta, India, June 14, 2011
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The government on Monday assured the high court of taking all measures to stamp out corporal punishment from schools across the state.
Government pleader Ashok Banerjee gave the assurance during the hearing of a petition seeking penal action against three teachers of Nopany High School in central Calcutta for allegedly inflicting corporal punishment on a student.
Lawyer Tapas Bhanja moved the petition against the three teachers, accusing them of mentally and physically harassing Class VIII student Satdhir Singh and driving him to attempt suicide.
Satdhir, 13, reportedly tried to end his life on April 20 by jumping from the roof of the school building. He suffered serious injuries and was in hospital for 10 days.
“The boy is gradually recovering at home,” the boy’s uncle told Metro on Monday.
“The petitioner appearing for this case can approach the department concerned and place his demand. If his allegation is true, the government will surely take action,” Banerjee told the division bench of Chief Justice J.N. Patel and Justice A.K. Roy.
The government pleader said he had no idea whether the previous government had failed to carry out the high court’s directive to stop corporal punishment in schools. “But the new government will be taking the issue seriously,” he said.
Moving the petition, advocate Bhanja told the court that the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights had taken up the matter. “The commission had constituted a three-member committee comprising to probe the incident and file a report,” he said.
The committee comprised commission member Dinesh Laroia, Prabir Basu, the convener of the Campaign Against Child Labour and Bhanja. The bench asked the lawyer to submit a copy of the report and fixed the matter for hearing on July 15.