# Thankamani, Kamakshy Panchayat Woman and Ors. vs Union of India and Ors.

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## Report card

By judgment dated 18 November 1991 in O.P. Nos. 8717 and 9100 of 1986, the Kerala High Court (Coram: K.G. Balakrishnan J., J.) returned findings adverse to 5 police personnel, namely: Circle Inspector, Peerumade; Police Constable (P.C. 572), Kattappana Police Station; Circle Inspector, Thankamani raiding party; Sub-Inspector; Sub-Inspector, and directed payment of compensation of Rs 60,000.

- Register number: KL 06 CW 0001
- Case reference: O.P. Nos. 8717 and 9100 of 1986 / 1993 ACJ 509
- Court and date: Kerala High Court (Coram: K.G. Balakrishnan J., J.), 18 November 1991
- Officer(s) at the material time: Circle Inspector, Peerumade; Police Constable (P.C. 572), Kattappana Police Station; Circle Inspector, Thankamani raiding party; Sub-Inspector; Sub-Inspector
- Present service status: Not ascertained from the cited sources.
- Provisions invoked: Article 21 of the Constitution of India; Article 226 of the Constitution of India
- Finding of the Court (extract): “This, I think, is a fit case where this Court shall order compensation as a palliative measure.” (at para 14)
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Adverse finding + compensation. Sentence: compensation only. Compensation: Rs 60,000.
- 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/819001/); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-1991-0006)

**Record:** CW-1991-0006 (compiler id CWC-0811); case GAP2-29-003
**Title:** Thankamani, Kamakshy Panchayat Woman and Ors. vs Union of India and Ors.
**Court:** Kerala High Court; judges: K.G. Balakrishnan J.
**Case number / citation:** O.P. Nos. 8717 and 9100 of 1986 / 1993 ACJ 509
**Judgment:** 1991-11-18 (1991, day precision)
**Incident date:** 1986-10-22 (1986)
**Place:** Idukki, Kerala; city town: Thankamani, Kamakshy Panchayat; police station or unit: Kattappana Police Station; force: state_police
**Category:** Violence & unlawful detention
**Sub-category:** disproportionate force
**Outcome:** Adverse finding + compensation (adverse_finding_compensation)
**Sections:** Constitution Art. 21; Constitution Art. 226
**Officers (gated display forms):** Circle Inspector, Peerumade; Police Constable (P.C. 572), Kattappana Police Station; Circle Inspector, Thankamani raiding party; Sub-Inspector; Sub-Inspector (5 in record)
**Victims:** Thankamani, Kamakshy Panchayat woman; Thankamani, Kamakshy Panchayat woman; Thankamani, Kamakshy Panchayat man; Thankamani, Kamakshy Panchayat man; Thankamani, Kamakshy Panchayat man (48 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** compensation only; Rs 60,000
**Sentence type:** compensation only (compensation_only)

The Kerala High Court (K.G. Balakrishnan, J.) held that Article 226 empowers compensation as a palliative where police violate Article 21, following Rudul Sah, Bhim Singh, PUDR v. State of Bihar and Sebastian Hongray. Accepting Commission evidence, medical records and affidavits for four of the 48 Thankamani petitioners, the Court awarded Rs.25,000 to a woman subjected to inhuman behaviour, Rs.15,000 to widow \[name withheld\] whose husband died in police firing, and Rs.10,000 each to a physically handicapped man shot in the head and a man ill-treated in custody. It directed the State to deposit Rs.60,000 with the Joint Registrar within three months and handed investigation of the pending criminal cases, mostly against police officers, to senior officers under a DIG. The general claim of Rs.50,000 each for all petitioners was rejected with liberty to move the civil court. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> This, I think, is a fit case where this Court shall order compensation as a palliative measure.

**Sources (1):** [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/819001/)
**Verification:** V2 · Externally reported
**Review:** Solo Staff combined review (one combined attestation) — not yet recorded
**admin category:** brutality
**admin subcategory:** disproportionate_force
**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'}
**anonymised:** False
**court quote para:** 14
**display title redacted:** Thankamani, Kamakshy Panchayat Woman and Ors. vs Union of India 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': '1991-11-18', '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 60,000.', 'disposition': 'Compensation ordered · Supports allegation (for the compensated wrong only)', 'source': '1993 ACJ 509', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/819001/', 'link_checked': None}
**retracted:** {"is_retracted": false}
**service:** police
**source assessment:** {"established": null, "basis": null}
**status:** current
**subcategory display:** disproportionate force
**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:** Art 226 compensation Rs.60,000 to four victims of Thankamani police excess; DIG-supervised probe ordered.
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Adverse finding + compensation.

[Open CW-1991-0006](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-1991-0006)