{
 "record_id": "CW-2024-0014",
 "status": "current",
 "merged_id": "CWC-0298",
 "alias_merged_ids": [
  "CWC-0524"
 ],
 "display_title": "State of Punjab vs Harbhajan Singh and Others",
 "display_title_redacted": "State of Punjab vs Harbhajan Singh and Others",
 "state": "Punjab",
 "district": "Sangrur",
 "district_at_time": null,
 "city_town": "Sangrur",
 "police_station_or_unit": "Railway Police, Sangrur",
 "court": "Punjab and Haryana High Court",
 "court_as_verified": "Punjab and Haryana High Court",
 "bench": null,
 "case_title": "State of Punjab vs Harbhajan Singh and Others",
 "case_number": "CRA-D-307-DBA-2004 with CRA-S-1071-SB-2003 and CRR-1952-2003",
 "citation": "2024:PHHC:109434-DB",
 "judges": [
  "Sureshwar Thakur",
  "Sudeepti Sharma"
 ],
 "judgment_date": "2024-08-23",
 "date_precision": "day",
 "judgment_year": 2024,
 "incident_date": "1995-12-07",
 "incident_year": 1995,
 "category": "Custodial death",
 "admin_category": "brutality",
 "admin_subcategory": "custodial_death",
 "subcategory": "custodial_death",
 "subcategory_display": "custodial death",
 "protest_override_heuristic": false,
 "outcome_type": "conviction_by_hc",
 "sections": [
  "IPC 302",
  "IPC 34",
  "IPC 343",
  "IPC 325",
  "IPC 324",
  "IPC 323"
 ],
 "officers": [
  {
   "name": "Gursewak Singh",
   "rank": "Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP)",
   "unit": "Railway Police, Sangrur",
   "role": "convicted",
   "publish_grade": "named_safe",
   "gate_reasons": [],
   "ledger_role": "convicted",
   "key2": "yes",
   "key2_agy": null,
   "key2_claude": null,
   "key2_union": "yes",
   "key2_gemapi": null,
   "key2_openrouter": "yes",
   "key2_gpt56": null,
   "grok": null,
   "jev_risk": 0.38,
   "jev_p_culpable": 0.87,
   "key2_gpt": null,
   "later_outcome": "pending_appeal",
   "name_public": "Gursewak Singh",
   "display": "Gursewak Singh (Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP))"
  },
  {
   "name": "Harbhajan Singh",
   "rank": "Station House Officer (SHO)",
   "unit": "Railway Police, Sangrur",
   "role": "convicted",
   "publish_grade": "named_safe",
   "gate_reasons": [],
   "ledger_role": "convicted",
   "key2": "yes",
   "key2_agy": null,
   "key2_claude": null,
   "key2_union": "yes",
   "key2_gemapi": null,
   "key2_openrouter": "yes",
   "key2_gpt56": null,
   "grok": null,
   "jev_risk": 0.45,
   "jev_p_culpable": 0.84,
   "key2_gpt": null,
   "later_outcome": "pending_appeal",
   "name_public": "Harbhajan Singh",
   "display": "Harbhajan Singh (Station House Officer (SHO))"
  },
  {
   "name": "Kirpal Singh",
   "rank": "Head Constable",
   "unit": "Railway Police, Sangrur",
   "role": "convicted",
   "publish_grade": "named_safe",
   "gate_reasons": [],
   "ledger_role": "convicted",
   "key2": "yes",
   "key2_agy": null,
   "key2_claude": null,
   "key2_union": "yes",
   "key2_gemapi": null,
   "key2_openrouter": "yes",
   "key2_gpt56": null,
   "grok": null,
   "jev_risk": 0.64,
   "jev_p_culpable": 0.73,
   "key2_gpt": null,
   "later_outcome": "pending_appeal",
   "name_public": "Kirpal Singh",
   "display": "Kirpal Singh (Head Constable)"
  },
  {
   "name": "Jaswant Singh",
   "rank": "Head Constable",
   "unit": "Railway Police, Sangrur",
   "role": "convicted",
   "publish_grade": "named_safe",
   "gate_reasons": [],
   "ledger_role": "convicted",
   "key2": "yes",
   "key2_agy": null,
   "key2_claude": null,
   "key2_union": "yes",
   "key2_gemapi": null,
   "key2_openrouter": "yes",
   "key2_gpt56": null,
   "grok": null,
   "jev_risk": 0.64,
   "jev_p_culpable": 0.72,
   "key2_gpt": null,
   "later_outcome": "pending_appeal",
   "name_public": "Jaswant Singh",
   "display": "Jaswant Singh (Head Constable)"
  }
 ],
 "officer_count": 4,
 "victims": [
  {
   "name": null,
   "age": null,
   "gender": "male",
   "descriptor": "Sangrur man"
  }
 ],
 "victims_redacted": null,
 "anonymised": false,
 "victim_count": 1,
 "sentence_type": "imprisonment",
 "sentence_max_years": null,
 "compensation_inr": null,
 "force": "railway",
 "primary_source_url": "https://indiankanoon.org/doc/24959113/",
 "secondary_sources": [
  "https://www.livelaw.in/high-court/punjab-and-haryana-high-court/punjab-haryana-high-court-convicts-dsp-in-1995-custodial-death-case-268832",
  "https://www.livelaw.in/pdf_upload/cra-d307-dba200423082024finalorder-2-559809.pdf"
 ],
 "summary": "A Sangrur man was abducted from his village home on 14 November 1995 by Railway Police, held for 9 days and brutally tortured with danda blows to the head, rib injuries and near-drowning, released in a crippled state, and died in PGI Chandigarh on 7 December 1995 of ante-mortem injuries sufficient to cause death. The trial court acquitted all of murder, convicting only for hurt and confinement, and cleared the DSP entirely. The Punjab and Haryana High Court credited co-detainee Baghel Singh's inculpatory account over his hostile resiling, which it held was induced by DSP pressure, along with the post-mortem evidence. Reversing the acquittal, it convicted all four, including the DSP, under Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC, with life sentences for the present accused and a separate sentence hearing for the others. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.",
 "summary_verified": "A Sangrur man was abducted from his village home on 14 November 1995 by Railway Police, held for 9 days and brutally tortured with danda blows to the head, rib injuries and near-drowning, released in a crippled state, and died in PGI Chandigarh on 7 December 1995 of ante-mortem injuries sufficient to cause death. The trial court acquitted all of murder, convicting only for hurt and confinement, and cleared the DSP entirely. The Punjab and Haryana High Court credited co-detainee Baghel Singh's inculpatory account over his hostile resiling, which it held was induced by DSP pressure, along with the post-mortem evidence. Reversing the acquittal, it convicted all four, including the DSP, under Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC, with life sentences for the present accused and a separate sentence hearing for the others.",
 "court_quote": "Consequently after allowing the instant appeal/revision respectively filed by the State of Punjab and the complainant, this Court quashes the impugned verdict of acquittal, as made by the learned trial Judge concerned, wherethrough, he made a finding of acquittal in respect a charge drawn for an offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the IPC, and modifies the same to the extent that all the accused are held guilty for an offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the IPC, in addition to the offence(s) for which respondents No.1 to 3 stand already convicted.",
 "court_quote_para": "35",
 "confidence": "high",
 "verdict": "accept",
 "verdict_note": "Acquittal reversed; DSP and 3 railway police convicted of murder under s.302/34.",
 "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": "2024-08-23",
   "action_type": "Order issued",
   "status": "Concluded",
   "authority": "Punjab and Haryana High Court",
   "independence": "External",
   "legal_effect": "Binding",
   "description": "The Punjab and Haryana High Court entered convictions against police personnel in this judgment.",
   "disposition": "Conviction · Supports allegation",
   "source": "2024:PHHC:109434-DB",
   "recheck": "Not yet re-checked."
  },
  {
   "date": "2024-12-19",
   "action_type": "Appeal pending",
   "status": "Pending",
   "authority": "Supreme Court of India",
   "independence": "External",
   "legal_effect": "Binding",
   "description": "As of 19 December 2024, an appeal arising from this judgment was pending before the Supreme Court of India (officers: Gursewak Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Jaswant Singh, Kirpal Singh); the judgment's findings had not been set aside on that date.",
   "disposition": "Later proceeding · Appeal pending",
   "source": "https://www.casemine.com/judgement/in/6764b0aa1c45974c767b06fa",
   "recheck": "Not yet re-checked."
  }
 ],
 "later_proceedings": [
  {
   "court": "Supreme Court of India",
   "date": "2024-12-19",
   "url": "https://www.casemine.com/judgement/in/6764b0aa1c45974c767b06fa",
   "outcome": "pending_appeal"
  }
 ],
 "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": []
  }
 ],
 "followup_status": "checked",
 "last_checked": "2026-09-19",
 "link_checked_per_url": [
  {
   "url": "https://indiankanoon.org/doc/24959113/",
   "link_checked": null
  },
  {
   "url": "https://www.livelaw.in/high-court/punjab-and-haryana-high-court/punjab-haryana-high-court-convicts-dsp-in-1995-custodial-death-case-268832",
   "link_checked": null
  },
  {
   "url": "https://www.livelaw.in/pdf_upload/cra-d307-dba200423082024finalorder-2-559809.pdf",
   "link_checked": null
  }
 ],
 "source_assessment": {
  "established": null,
  "basis": null
 },
 "v3_basis": null,
 "publication_basis": null,
 "reviews": [],
 "retracted": {
  "is_retracted": false
 },
 "fidelity_checked": true,
 "verified_by": [
  "chunk-10",
  "chunk-31"
 ],
 "merged_case_id": "PUNJAB-002",
 "officers_named_public": 4,
 "record_flag": null,
 "service": "police",
 "watch": "babuwatch"
}