Sanawar, May 3
Under pressure to revoke expulsion of seven students, Lawrence School, Sanawar Headmaster Praveen Vasisht today declared that the boys would not be taken back. The students had brutally beaten up nine junior students on April 27 after they apparently failed to cheer the seniors at a basketball match in the school.

Four of the nine students, beaten with hockey sticks, leather belts and iron rods, sustained various injuries requiring first aid. Ear drums of one of them got perforated and he had to be treated in a hospital at Mohali.

In the absence of any formal complaint by parents of the injured students or by the school, no police case has been registered. But the Deputy Commissioner, Solan, Amandeep Garg, and the SP, Solan, Shiv Pal Verma, today visited the school and conducted an inquiry. They have also spoken to the parents of the injured students, briefed the DC, and they appeared satisfied with the action taken by the school.

The DC insisted that it was not a case of ‘ragging’ because the injured students were not freshers and had actually been in the residential school for several years. “On the face of it, it was a stray incident of a clash between two groups of students and it has never happened in the past. Moreover, all these students were in the school for the past five to six years, so possibility of ragging is ruled out. But looking at the sensitivity of the situation, I recommend that an FIR should have been registered against the guilty students”, said the DC.

The SP said that although Daily Diary Report (DDR) would be lodged in the matter for further investigation, no legal proceeding can be initiated until unless parents of the injured students approach the police with complaints.

But the Headmaster agreed that the act of violence was unpardonable. “I sent off the seven students on the night of April 28 after receiving the report from the Disciplinary Committee of the school. They were escorted to their home,” said Vasisht.

In a reflective mood, the Headmaster declared, “ Had I not taken such a harsh step, violent and brutal acts would tend to multiply.” The seven students, he said, should take it as a lesson for life and refrain from indulging in such violent activities.

The school song, he pointed out, contained the line, “ Somebody has got to stop the rot ! And why not you”. Violence is not tolerated by either the school or by the law of the land, he said. “ You just cannot get away after committing violence. My decision was in the larger interest of the school and the students,” he added.

While Vasisht refused to name the students or furnish any more detail, school sources maintained that the match was between class XI and XII. The senior students appear to have taken offence at the hooting done by juniors and later in the evening, cornered nine students in the Mess area.

The school, established in 1847, has many illustrious students. Among them is Navin Chawla, an IAS officer of 1969 batch (1961 batch), who recently took over as the Chief Election Commissioner. The other illustrious students of this prestigious school were film star Sanjay Dutt, Iqbal Khan, Rahul Roy, Pooja Bedi, Saif Ali Khan, former Chief Minister Punjab Capt Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister, J&K Omar Abdullah, Deputy Chief Minister, Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal and Maneka Gandhi, to name a few.