{
 "record_id": "CW-2026-0021",
 "status": "current",
 "merged_id": "CWC-0177",
 "alias_merged_ids": [
  "CWC-1462"
 ],
 "display_title": "State of Jharkhand & Ors. vs Garhwa District Police Constable & Ors.",
 "display_title_redacted": "State of Jharkhand & Ors. vs Garhwa District Police Constable & Ors.",
 "state": "Jharkhand",
 "district": "Garhwa",
 "district_at_time": null,
 "city_town": "Garhwa",
 "police_station_or_unit": "Garhwa District Police, Jharkhand Police",
 "court": "Supreme Court of India",
 "court_as_verified": "Supreme Court of India",
 "bench": null,
 "case_title": "State of Jharkhand & Ors. vs Garhwa District Police Constable & Ors.",
 "case_number": "Civil Appeal No. 7364 of 2026",
 "citation": "2026 INSC 466",
 "judges": [
  "Ahsanuddin Amanullah",
  "R. Mahadevan"
 ],
 "judgment_date": "2026-05-08",
 "date_precision": "day",
 "judgment_year": 2026,
 "incident_date": "2005-05-18",
 "incident_year": 2005,
 "category": "Other",
 "admin_category": "misconduct",
 "admin_subcategory": "other",
 "subcategory": "other",
 "subcategory_display": "other",
 "protest_override_heuristic": false,
 "outcome_type": "disciplinary_upheld",
 "sections": [
  "Constitution Art. 142"
 ],
 "officers": [
  {
   "name": "Ranjan Kumar @ Santosh Kumar",
   "rank": "Constable",
   "unit": "Garhwa District Police, Jharkhand Police",
   "role": "held_liable",
   "publish_grade": "named_safe",
   "gate_reasons": [],
   "ledger_role": "held_liable",
   "key2": "yes",
   "key2_agy": "yes",
   "key2_claude": null,
   "key2_union": null,
   "key2_gemapi": null,
   "key2_openrouter": "yes",
   "key2_gpt56": null,
   "grok": null,
   "jev_risk": 0.08,
   "jev_p_culpable": 0.93,
   "key2_gpt": null,
   "later_outcome": "none_found",
   "name_public": "Ranjan Kumar @ Santosh Kumar",
   "display": "Ranjan Kumar @ Santosh Kumar (Constable)"
  }
 ],
 "officer_count": 1,
 "victims": [],
 "victims_redacted": null,
 "anonymised": false,
 "victim_count": 0,
 "sentence_type": "dismissal",
 "sentence_max_years": null,
 "compensation_inr": null,
 "force": "state_police",
 "primary_source_url": "https://www.advocatekhoj.com/library/judgments/index.php?go=2026/may/state-of-jharkhand-vs-ranjan-kumar-23",
 "secondary_sources": [
  "https://www.verdictum.in/supreme-court/the-state-of-jharkhand-ors-v-ranjan-kumar-ors-2026-insc-466-impersonation-1613679",
  "https://www.livelaw.in/supreme-court/supreme-court-orders-criminal-action-against-constable-who-joined-bihar-jharkhand-police-in-different-names-533562",
  "https://courtbook.in/posts/supreme-court-jharkhand-constable-fake-identity-bihar-police-dismissal",
  "https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/supreme-court-orders-dismissal-of-cop-who-joined-bihar-and-jharkhand-police-under-different-names",
  "https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/2026/05/12/sc-restores-police-constables-dismissal-for-securing-appointment-through-fraud/"
 ],
 "summary": "The judgment of the Supreme Court of India records the following account. Ranjan Kumar was appointed as a constable in Jharkhand Police in Garhwa district in 2005 and subsequently secured a second constable appointment in Bihar Police under the assumed name 'Santosh Kumar' using fabricated documents. Departmental inquiry revealed the fraud and he was dismissed in 2010, but the Jharkhand High Court Division Bench interfered with the dismissal. The Supreme Court reversed the Division Bench, restored the constable's dismissal from Jharkhand Police, quashed his appointment in Bihar Police under Article 142, and directed the DGPs of both states to initiate criminal proceedings. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.",
 "summary_verified": "Ranjan Kumar was appointed as a constable in Jharkhand Police in Garhwa district in 2005 and subsequently secured a second constable appointment in Bihar Police under the assumed name 'Santosh Kumar' using fabricated documents. Departmental inquiry revealed the fraud and he was dismissed in 2010, but the Jharkhand High Court Division Bench interfered with the dismissal. The Supreme Court reversed the Division Bench, restored the constable's dismissal from Jharkhand Police, quashed his appointment in Bihar Police under Article 142, and directed the DGPs of both states to initiate criminal proceedings.",
 "court_quote": "Public employment, particularly in the police service, cannot be converted into an instrument of fraud.",
 "court_quote_para": "24",
 "confidence": "high",
 "verdict": "accept",
 "verdict_note": "Supreme Court reversed High Court Division Bench, restoring dismissal of constable who fraudulently joined Bihar Police under an alias while serving in Jharkhand Police.",
 "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": "Other",
   "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": "2026-05-08",
   "action_type": "Order issued",
   "status": "Concluded",
   "authority": "Supreme Court of India",
   "independence": "External",
   "legal_effect": "Binding",
   "description": "The Supreme Court of India upheld service punishment imposed on police personnel.",
   "disposition": "Disciplinary action · Procedural only",
   "source": "2026 INSC 466",
   "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": []
  }
 ],
 "followup_status": "checked",
 "last_checked": "2026-09-19",
 "link_checked_per_url": [
  {
   "url": "https://www.advocatekhoj.com/library/judgments/index.php?go=2026/may/state-of-jharkhand-vs-ranjan-kumar-23",
   "link_checked": null
  },
  {
   "url": "https://www.verdictum.in/supreme-court/the-state-of-jharkhand-ors-v-ranjan-kumar-ors-2026-insc-466-impersonation-1613679",
   "link_checked": null
  },
  {
   "url": "https://www.livelaw.in/supreme-court/supreme-court-orders-criminal-action-against-constable-who-joined-bihar-jharkhand-police-in-different-names-533562",
   "link_checked": null
  },
  {
   "url": "https://courtbook.in/posts/supreme-court-jharkhand-constable-fake-identity-bihar-police-dismissal",
   "link_checked": null
  },
  {
   "url": "https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/supreme-court-orders-dismissal-of-cop-who-joined-bihar-and-jharkhand-police-under-different-names",
   "link_checked": null
  },
  {
   "url": "https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/2026/05/12/sc-restores-police-constables-dismissal-for-securing-appointment-through-fraud/",
   "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-05",
  "chunk-45"
 ],
 "merged_case_id": "SWOTHERM-015",
 "officers_named_public": 1,
 "record_flag": null,
 "service": "police",
 "watch": "babuwatch"
}