# State of Uttar Pradesh v. Ram Sagar Yadav and Ors.

HTML version: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-1985-0001](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-1985-0001)

## Report card

By judgment dated 18 January 1985 in Criminal Appeal No. 69 of 1975, the Supreme Court of India (Coram: Y.V. Chandrachud, Amarendra Nath Sen, JJ.) recorded the conviction of 4 police personnel, namely: Ram Sagar Yadav (Station House Officer); Shobha Nath @ Pujari (Constable); Constable, Hussainganj Police Station; Constable, Hussainganj Police Station.

- Register number: UP 71 CW 0001
- Case reference: Criminal Appeal No. 69 of 1975 / (1985) 1 SCC 552; AIR 1985 SC 416
- Court and date: Supreme Court of India (Coram: Y.V. Chandrachud, Amarendra Nath Sen, JJ.), 18 January 1985
- Officer(s) at the material time: Ram Sagar Yadav (Station House Officer); Shobha Nath @ Pujari (Constable); Constable, Hussainganj Police Station; Constable, Hussainganj Police Station
- Present service status: Not ascertained from the cited sources.
- Provisions invoked: Section 304 Part II of the Indian Penal Code, 1860; Section 220 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860
- Finding of the Court (extract): “Police Officers alone, and none else, can give evidence as regards the circumstances in which a person in their custody comes to receive injuries while in their custody. Bound by ties of a kind of brotherhood, they often prefer to …” (at para n/a)
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Conviction entered by Supreme Court. Sentence: imprisonment; maximum substantive term of 7.0 years.
- Present status of the proceedings: No further proceedings are recorded in the cited sources; the judgment is the concluded position shown.
- Source orders: [Judgment / order (primary source)](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/596213/); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-1985-0001)

**Record:** CW-1985-0001 (compiler id CWC-0332); case UTTARP-002; aliases: CWC-1470
**Title:** State of Uttar Pradesh v. Ram Sagar Yadav and Ors.
**Court:** Supreme Court of India; judges: Y.V. Chandrachud; Amarendra Nath Sen
**Case number / citation:** Criminal Appeal No. 69 of 1975 / (1985) 1 SCC 552; AIR 1985 SC 416
**Judgment:** 1985-01-18 (1985, day precision)
**Incident date:** 1969-08-29 (1969)
**Place:** Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh; city town: Fatehpur; police station or unit: Hussainganj Police Station; force: state_police
**Category:** Violence & unlawful detention
**Sub-category:** custodial death
**Outcome:** Conviction entered by Supreme Court (conviction_by_sc)
**Sections:** IPC 304 Part II; IPC 220
**Officers (gated display forms):** Ram Sagar Yadav (Station House Officer); Shobha Nath @ Pujari (Constable); Constable, Hussainganj Police Station; Constable, Hussainganj Police Station (4 in record)
**Victims:** Fatehpur man (1 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** imprisonment; max 7.0 yrs
**Sentence type:** imprisonment (imprisonment)

The judgment of the Supreme Court of India records the following account. A Fatehpur man of village Haibatpur lodged a complaint with the Superintendent of Police, Fatehpur, against Constable for extorting a bribe in a cattle trespass dispute. In retaliation, Station House Officer Ram Sagar Yadav dispatched two constables to arrest a Fatehpur man on a trumped-up dacoity charge on 29 August 1969, where he was mercilessly beaten inside Hussainganj Police Station. When brought in a collapsed state to the Additional District Magistrate for remand, a Fatehpur man made a dying declaration naming the Darogah and constables before succumbing to nineteen injuries later that evening. The Sessions Judge convicted the SHO and three constables under Section 304 Part II IPC (and the SHO under Section 220 IPC), but the Allahabad High Court acquitted them. The Supreme Court reversed the High Court acquittal and affirmed the convictions and sentences, holding the dying declaration unimpeachable and famously recommending that the legislature amend the law on the burden of proof in custodial violence cases. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> Police Officers alone, and none else, can give evidence as regards the circumstances in which a person in their custody comes to receive injuries while in their custody. Bound by ties of a kind of brotherhood, they often prefer to remain silent in such situations and when they choose to speak, they put their own gloss upon facts and pervert the truth.

**Sources (2):** [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/596213/); [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/853108/)
**Verification:** V2 · Externally reported
**Review:** Solo Staff combined review (one combined attestation) — not yet recorded
**admin category:** brutality
**admin subcategory:** custodial_death
**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'}
**anonymised:** False
**court quote para:** n/a
**display title redacted:** State of Uttar Pradesh v. Ram Sagar Yadav and Ors.
**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
**institutional response:** {'date': '1985-01-18', 'action_type': 'Order issued', 'status': 'Concluded', 'authority': 'Supreme Court of India', 'independence': 'External', 'legal_effect': 'Binding', 'description': 'The Supreme Court of India entered convictions against police personnel in this judgment.', 'disposition': 'Conviction · Supports allegation', 'source': '(1985) 1 SCC 552; AIR 1985 SC 416', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/596213/', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/853108/', 'link_checked': None}
**retracted:** {"is_retracted": false}
**service:** police
**source assessment:** {"established": null, "basis": null}
**status:** current
**subcategory display:** custodial death
**tier:** Tier A — Externally reported or officially recorded
**tier badge:** Externally reported
**tier history:** Tier A — Externally reported or officially recorded
**verdict:** accept
**verdict note:** Supreme Court reversed High Court acquittal, restoring Sessions Court convictions of SHO and 3 constables under s. 304 Part II IPC for custodial death.
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Conviction entered by Supreme Court.

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