Corporal punishment by a teacher, if reasonable and without intent to harm, does not constitute an offence under Section 324 IPC.

ORDER

This Criminal Miscellaneous Case is filed to quash the proceedings in C.C.No.13/2015 on the file of Judicial First Class Magistrate Court Ettumanoor arising from Crime No.1697/2014 of Ettumanoor Police station. The above case is charge sheeted against the petitioner alleging offence punishable under section 324 Indian Penal Code .

2. The Allegation of the prosecution in brief is that, the petitioner while working as a teacher, beaten the child of the defacto complainant from the class room on 19.11.2014 afternoon. According to the prosecution, the petitioner committed the offence under Section 324 IPC . According to the petitioner who is the teacher of the school, even if the entire allegations are accepted no offence is made out. The petitioner also relied the judgment of this Court in Nirmala v. State of Kerala [ 2020 (1) KLT 136 ] and also the judgment in Abdul Vahid v. State of Kerala and another [2005 (1 ) KLJ 579] . The counsel also relied the judgments in Jaya v. State Of Kerala [ 2022 (1) KHC 678 ] .

3. This Court concerned the contention of the petitioner and the Public prosecutor.

4. The counsel for the petitioner submitted that, even if the entire allegation are accepted, no offence is made out in the light of the principle laid down by this Court in the above three judgments. The counsel appearing for the 1 st respondent submitted that the child sustained very serious injuries and the teacher has no authority to beat a student. The counsel submitted that the contention raised by the petitioner is a matter of evidence and this court may not interfere with the same.

5. The prosecution case is that the petitioner who is a teacher beaten the child of the defacto complainant on three times on the right leg and and there by this child sustained injury.

6. This court in Nirmala’s case ( Supra) considered a similar situation. This court observed that the act of the teacher imposing the discipline on a pupil by caning etc…, though may otherwise fulfill the definition of corporal punishment, a criminal offence is not made out. The relevant portion of the above judgment extracted here under :

“10. A mere reading of S. 324 of the I.P.C. would make it clear like the day light, that S.324 will come into play only if the alleged weapon used for causing hurt is a dangerous weapons like an instrument for shooting, stabbing or cutting, or any instrument which, used as weapon of offence, is likely to cause death, or by means of fire or any heated substance, or by means of any poison or any corrosive substance, or by means of any explosive substance or by means of any substance which it is deleterious to the human body to inhale, etc. The prosecution does not even have the remotest whisper in the prosecution materials that the cane stick is a dangerous weapon as envisaged in S.324 or that the process of caning pupil would involve a dangerous means as envisaged in S.324 of the I.P.C. So it goes without saying that in the instant case, S.324 of the I.P.C. is not made out. This Court has held in decisions as in Rajan v. S.I. of Police , ( 2019 (1) KLT 119 ) that if punishment is imposed out of spite or for some other extraneous and non disciplinary reasons or if the force is unreasonable or immoderate, then it is unlawful and hurt of a less serious crime is not forbidden when inflicted in the reasonable chastisement of a child by a parent or a school teacher to whom the parent has has delegated or is deemed to have delegated his authority. It will be pertinent to refer to paragraphs 9 and 11 of the abovesaid decision of this Court in Rajan's case supra, which read as follows:

"9. In the case on hand, though the incident had allegedly taken place on 05.11.2015. the law was set in motion on 08.11.2015. Admittedly, the applicant herein is a school teacher and the victim is his student. Parents, teachers and other persons in loco parentis are entitled as a disciplinary measure to apply a reasonable degree of force to their children or pu