The Kalyan school said the parent spread lies about the management.

A driver in Kalyan, who earns around Rs 10,000 a month, has been issued a legal notice by his children’s school, seeking Rs 25 lakh in damages for “harassment and defamation”.

Rameshwar Dakhodkar, 42, said the management of DS Desai School, where his two children study, has also threatened to file a criminal case against him as a “punitive measure” for objecting to a Rs 4,000 hike in fees. Dakhodkar said after he protested the annual fee hike from Rs 20,000 to Rs 24,000, the school began ill-treating his son Sudarshan, a student of Std IX, and daughter Dhanashree, who studies in Std IV.

“I approached the Commission for Protection of Child Rights after my kids were not allowed to sit with their classmates, and their exam results were withheld. The school had even expelled my children but the local civic body’s education officers intervened and ensured their admission was not cancelled,” Dakhodkar said.