Dadar school sues parents for Rs 1 cr for police complaint against teachers

The parents of a Class II student of a Dadar school are being sued by the school for approaching the police after their son was allegedly made to clean a toilet as punishment for misbehaviour. The school, which says an internal enquiry has found the allegations to be false, has sought Rs 99.5 lakh in damages for the slur on its reputation. A report in The Indian Express says the school issued the student a leaving certificate with an adverse remark. When the parents obtained an order from the Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MSCPCR) asking the school to remove the negative remark, the school moved the civil court, seeking damages for libel. The court has summoned the parents on 16 September. The story began early in March this year when Prakash and Pushpa Gandhi filed a police complaint against two teachers of the Antonio Da Silva High School in Dadar, stating that their son was in trauma after being chained and made to clean a toilet with some classmates as punishment for indiscipline in the classroom. One of the teachers hit the boy with a rod, it was alleged.  As newspapers reported the incident as stated in the police complaint, other teachers came out in support of the accused teacher. A protest was staged and, weeks later, the parents were asked to withdraw the boy’s admission. According to the report, “The school had earlier said the Gandhis never complained about the alleged punishment to the management, which learned about it through the media. The Gandhis, however, claim that they had approached the school immediately.” The teacher at the centre of the accusations was suspended briefly, and later reinstated, according to an earlier report in Mumbai Mirror. For some time now, the idea of a code of conduct for teachers and students has been doing the rounds of policy-makers in Maharashtra. A panel of senior educationists, psychiatrists, teachers and parent representatives was even formed in 2012, but has not submitted any recommendations so far.