Under pressure from all quarters following the alleged suicide of a student after being caned by the principal, the elite La Martiniere School for Boys in Kolkata on Friday banned corporal punishment.
"No child will be subjected to physical punishment and mental torture and whoever contravenes such provisions, shall be construed a major violator of rules and if found guilty, shall be liable for disciplinary action," the school's board of governors said in a notification.
Board member Lieutenant General (retired) J R Mukherjee said that under the service rules, which have been amended with immediate effect, violators would attract halt to increment, promotion and even removal and suspension.
The school authorities have also decided to form a committee for students to file complaints and seek counseling.
The principal of the 150-year-old school, Sunirmal Chakravarthy, who admitted that he had caned class VIII student Rouvanjit Rawla, has refused to link it with the suicide and said he was ready to face the consequences.
Rouvanjit's father Ajay Rawla has filed a police complaint against Chakravarthy.