{
 "record_id": "CW-1997-0011",
 "status": "current",
 "merged_id": "CWC-0694",
 "alias_merged_ids": [],
 "display_title": "Cherthala Man vs Union of India",
 "display_title_redacted": "Cherthala Man vs Union of India",
 "state": "Kerala",
 "district": "Alappuzha",
 "district_at_time": "Alleppey",
 "city_town": "Cherthala",
 "police_station_or_unit": "Sherthala Police Station / Circle Inspector's Office",
 "court": "Kerala High Court",
 "court_as_verified": "Kerala High Court",
 "bench": null,
 "case_title": "Cherthala Man vs Union of India",
 "case_number": null,
 "citation": null,
 "judges": [
  "K. A. Abdul Gafoor"
 ],
 "judgment_date": "1997-01-27",
 "date_precision": "day",
 "judgment_year": 1997,
 "incident_date": "1988-10-06",
 "incident_year": 1988,
 "category": "Custodial death",
 "admin_category": "brutality",
 "admin_subcategory": "custodial_death",
 "subcategory": "custodial_death",
 "subcategory_display": "custodial death",
 "protest_override_heuristic": false,
 "outcome_type": "adverse_finding_compensation",
 "sections": [],
 "officers": [
  {
   "name": null,
   "rank": "Police Constable",
   "unit": "Sherthala Police Station",
   "publish_grade": "unnamed",
   "gate_reasons": [
    "ledger:no_row",
    "key2:no_row"
   ],
   "ledger_role": null,
   "key2": null,
   "key2_agy": null,
   "key2_claude": null,
   "key2_union": null,
   "key2_gemapi": null,
   "key2_openrouter": null,
   "key2_gpt56": null,
   "grok": null,
   "jev_risk": null,
   "jev_p_culpable": null,
   "key2_gpt": null,
   "later_outcome": null,
   "name_public": null,
   "display": "Police Constable, Sherthala Police Station"
  },
  {
   "name": null,
   "rank": "Police Constable",
   "unit": "Sherthala Police Station",
   "publish_grade": "unnamed",
   "gate_reasons": [
    "ledger:no_row",
    "key2:no_row"
   ],
   "ledger_role": null,
   "key2": null,
   "key2_agy": null,
   "key2_claude": null,
   "key2_union": null,
   "key2_gemapi": null,
   "key2_openrouter": null,
   "key2_gpt56": null,
   "grok": null,
   "jev_risk": null,
   "jev_p_culpable": null,
   "key2_gpt": null,
   "later_outcome": null,
   "name_public": null,
   "display": "Police Constable, Sherthala Police Station"
  },
  {
   "name": null,
   "rank": "Sub-Inspector",
   "unit": "Sherthala Police Station",
   "publish_grade": "unnamed",
   "gate_reasons": [
    "ledger:no_row",
    "key2:no_row"
   ],
   "ledger_role": null,
   "key2": null,
   "key2_agy": null,
   "key2_claude": null,
   "key2_union": null,
   "key2_gemapi": null,
   "key2_openrouter": null,
   "key2_gpt56": null,
   "grok": null,
   "jev_risk": null,
   "jev_p_culpable": null,
   "key2_gpt": null,
   "later_outcome": null,
   "name_public": null,
   "display": "Sub-Inspector, Sherthala Police Station"
  },
  {
   "name": null,
   "rank": "Circle Inspector",
   "unit": "Sherthala",
   "publish_grade": "unnamed",
   "gate_reasons": [
    "ledger:no_row",
    "key2:no_row"
   ],
   "ledger_role": null,
   "key2": null,
   "key2_agy": null,
   "key2_claude": null,
   "key2_union": null,
   "key2_gemapi": null,
   "key2_openrouter": null,
   "key2_gpt56": null,
   "grok": null,
   "jev_risk": null,
   "jev_p_culpable": null,
   "key2_gpt": null,
   "later_outcome": null,
   "name_public": null,
   "display": "Circle Inspector, Sherthala"
  }
 ],
 "officer_count": 4,
 "victims": [
  {
   "name": null,
   "age": 24,
   "gender": "male",
   "descriptor": "Cherthala man, age 24"
  }
 ],
 "victims_redacted": null,
 "anonymised": false,
 "victim_count": 1,
 "sentence_type": "compensation_only",
 "sentence_max_years": null,
 "compensation_inr": 300000,
 "force": "state_police",
 "primary_source_url": "https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1655493/",
 "secondary_sources": [],
 "summary": "The judgment of the Kerala High Court records the following account. A Cherthala man, 24, a mosaic-flooring worker who was not an accused in any case, went with his father to the Sherthala Circle Inspector's office on the morning of 5 October 1988 for questioning over stolen articles and was detained without production before any magistrate; he died of injuries on 6 October 1988, with police claiming suicide by a broken tube-light. The DGP's enquiry proved custody beyond 24 hours, from 9 a.m. on 5 October to after 1.30 p.m. on 6 October, and that he was arrayed as an accused only after the incident. The High Court held his fundamental rights were nakedly violated, termed it detention in illegal and unlawful custody for more than 24 hours, awarded Rs.3,00,000 compensation with Rs.2,500 costs, directed CBI investigation, and ordered the DSP to register a crime over the unlawful detention. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.",
 "summary_verified": "A Cherthala man, 24, a mosaic-flooring worker who was not an accused in any case, went with his father to the Sherthala Circle Inspector's office on the morning of 5 October 1988 for questioning over stolen articles and was detained without production before any magistrate; he died of injuries on 6 October 1988, with police claiming suicide by a broken tube-light. The DGP's enquiry proved custody beyond 24 hours, from 9 a.m. on 5 October to after 1.30 p.m. on 6 October, and that he was arrayed as an accused only after the incident. The High Court held his fundamental rights were nakedly violated, termed it detention in illegal and unlawful custody for more than 24 hours, awarded Rs.3,00,000 compensation with Rs.2,500 costs, directed CBI investigation, and ordered the DSP to register a crime over the unlawful detention.",
 "court_quote": "detention of a citizen in illegal and unlawful custody for more than 24 hours, from 9 a.m. on 5.10.1988 to at least 1.30 p.m. on 6.10.1988, when he succumbed to injuries.",
 "court_quote_para": "11",
 "confidence": "high",
 "verdict": "accept",
 "verdict_note": "HC held death in >24-hr illegal custody of non-accused; Rs.3 lakh compensation, CBI probe and crime registration ordered.",
 "verification_status": "V2",
 "verification_badge": "V2 · Externally reported",
 "tier_badge": "Externally reported",
 "tier": "Tier A — Externally reported or officially recorded",
 "tier_history": [
  "Tier A — Externally reported or officially recorded"
 ],
 "allegations": [
  {
   "category": "Custodial death",
   "primary": true,
   "position": "Material fact supported",
   "position_explainer": "Reliable material supports a specifically documented fact relevant to that allegation, not necessarily the full allegation, causation, intent, unlawfulness, or responsibility.",
   "official_finding_relation": "supports allegation"
  }
 ],
 "institutional_response": [
  {
   "date": "1997-01-27",
   "action_type": "Order issued",
   "status": "Concluded",
   "authority": "Kerala High Court",
   "independence": "External",
   "legal_effect": "Binding",
   "description": "The Kerala High Court recorded adverse findings against police personnel and ordered Rs 300,000.",
   "disposition": "Compensation ordered · Supports allegation (for the compensated wrong only)",
   "source": "Kerala High Court judgment 1997-01-27",
   "recheck": "Not yet re-checked."
  }
 ],
 "later_proceedings": [],
 "final_outcome_url": null,
 "followup_history": [
  {
   "date": "2026-09-19",
   "scope": "Round-8 full re-verification: published record re-checked against the judgment text (outcome, officers, quote, key facts) plus methodology-compliance pass",
   "method": "skills-guided adversarial re-verification of the published record against the judgment text (reverify/t1-*/adversarial-8.jsonl)",
   "result": "holds",
   "corrections_applied": [
    "court_quote_para"
   ]
  }
 ],
 "followup_status": "checked",
 "last_checked": "2026-09-19",
 "link_checked_per_url": [
  {
   "url": "https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1655493/",
   "link_checked": null
  }
 ],
 "source_assessment": {
  "established": null,
  "basis": null
 },
 "v3_basis": null,
 "publication_basis": null,
 "reviews": [],
 "retracted": {
  "is_retracted": false
 },
 "fidelity_checked": false,
 "verified_by": [
  "chunk-51"
 ],
 "merged_case_id": "SWILLEGA-071",
 "officers_named_public": 0,
 "record_flag": null,
 "service": "police",
 "watch": "babuwatch"
}