# Amritsar Man v. State of Punjab and Ors.

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## Report card

By judgment dated 7 August 1996 in Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 497 of 1996, the Supreme Court of India returned findings adverse to 3 police personnel, namely: Senior Superintendent of Police, Tarn Taran Police; Deputy Superintendent of Police, Punjab Police; Deputy Superintendent of Police, Punjab Police, and directed payment of compensation of Rs 10 lakh (Rs 10,00,000).

- Register number: PB 02 CW 0004
- Case reference: Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 497 of 1996
- Court and date: Supreme Court of India, 7 August 1996
- Officer(s) at the material time: Senior Superintendent of Police, Tarn Taran Police; Deputy Superintendent of Police, Punjab Police; Deputy Superintendent of Police, Punjab Police
- Present service status: Not ascertained from the cited sources.
- Provisions invoked: Section 365 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860
- Finding of the Court (extract): “Kidnapping of a person whose family is totally in dark about his whereabouts - even about the fact whether he is alive or dead - is the worst crime against humanity.”
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Adverse finding + compensation. Sentence: compensation only. Compensation: Rs 10 lakh (Rs 10,00,000).
- 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://ia600701.us.archive.org/17/items/JaswantSinghKhalra-AMartyrForHumanRights/JaswantSinghKhalra-AMartyrForHumanRights.pdf); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-1996-0007)

**Record:** CW-1996-0007 (compiler id CWC-0534); case SWENFORC-013
**Title:** Amritsar Man v. State of Punjab and Ors.
**Court:** Supreme Court of India
**Case number / citation:** Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 497 of 1996
**Judgment:** 1996-08-07 (1996, day precision)
**Incident date:** 1995-09-06 (1995)
**Place:** Amritsar, Punjab; police station or unit: Tarn Taran Police; force: state_police
**Category:** Violence & unlawful detention
**Sub-category:** enforced disappearance
**Outcome:** Adverse finding + compensation (adverse_finding_compensation)
**Sections:** IPC 365
**Officers (gated display forms):** Senior Superintendent of Police, Tarn Taran Police; Deputy Superintendent of Police, Punjab Police; Deputy Superintendent of Police, Punjab Police (7 in record)
**Victims:** Amritsar man (1 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** compensation only; Rs 10 lakh (Rs 10,00,000)
**Sentence type:** compensation only (compensation_only)

The Supreme Court, on Paramjit Kaur's habeas petition for her husband \[name withheld\] abducted on 6 September 1995, ordered a CBI inquiry and then prosecution of the officials on the CBI report, directing Punjab to pay Rs 10 lakh interim compensation recoverable from the officers on conviction. The Court called kidnapping that leaves a family in the dark about whether the victim is alive or dead the worst crime against humanity. The unreported Record of Proceedings is corroborated by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in \[name withheld\] (2001), which records the date and amount. The officials were later convicted at trial with convictions upheld to the Supreme Court. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> Kidnapping of a person whose family is totally in dark about his whereabouts - even about the fact whether he is alive or dead - is the worst crime against humanity.

**Sources (4):** [ia600701.us.archive.org](https://ia600701.us.archive.org/17/items/JaswantSinghKhalra-AMartyrForHumanRights/JaswantSinghKhalra-AMartyrForHumanRights.pdf); [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/80798392/); [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/342168/); [courtkutchehry.com](https://www.courtkutchehry.com/judgements/153425/karnail-singh-and-another-appellant-hash-state-of-punjab-and-others-respondent-1/)
**Verification:** V2 · Externally reported
**Review:** Solo Staff combined review (one combined attestation) — not yet recorded
**admin category:** brutality
**admin subcategory:** enforced_disappearance
**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
**display title redacted:** Amritsar Man v. State of Punjab 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': \['officers'\]}
**followup status:** checked
**institutional response:** {'date': '1996-08-07', 'action_type': 'Order issued', 'status': 'Concluded', 'authority': 'Supreme Court of India', 'independence': 'External', 'legal_effect': 'Binding', 'description': 'The Supreme Court of India recorded adverse findings against police personnel and ordered Rs 1,000,000.', 'disposition': 'Compensation ordered · Supports allegation (for the compensated wrong only)', 'source': 'Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 497 of 1996', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://ia600701.us.archive.org/17/items/JaswantSinghKhalra-AMartyrForHumanRights/JaswantSinghKhalra-AMartyrForHumanRights.pdf', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/80798392/', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/342168/', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://www.courtkutchehry.com/judgements/153425/karnail-singh-and-another-appellant-hash-state-of-punjab-and-others-respondent-1/', 'link_checked': None}
**retracted:** {"is_retracted": false}
**service:** police
**source assessment:** {"established": null, "basis": null}
**status:** current
**subcategory display:** enforced disappearance
**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:** SC ordered prosecution on CBI report plus Rs 10L interim compensation; order corroborated by \[name withheld\] (2001).
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Adverse finding + compensation.

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