# Panskura Man vs State of West Bengal and Others

HTML version: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-1997-0001](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-1997-0001)

## Report card

By judgment dated 31 January 1997 in C.C. No. 18207 (W) of 1995, the Calcutta High Court (Coram: Bhagabati Prosad Banerjee, Asok Kumar Chakravarty, JJ.) returned findings adverse to 2 police personnel, namely: Sub-Inspector (then Officer-in-Charge), Panskura Police Station; Assistant Sub-Inspector, Panskura Police Station, and directed payment of compensation of Rs 1 lakh (Rs 1,00,000).

- Register number: WB 29 CW 0001
- Case reference: C.C. No. 18207 (W) of 1995 / 1997 Cri LJ 1762
- Court and date: Calcutta High Court (Coram: Bhagabati Prosad Banerjee, Asok Kumar Chakravarty, JJ.), 31 January 1997
- Officer(s) at the material time: Sub-Inspector (then Officer-in-Charge), Panskura Police Station; Assistant Sub-Inspector, Panskura Police Station
- Present service status: Not ascertained from the cited sources.
- Provisions invoked: Article 21 of the Constitution of India
- Finding of the Court (extract): “We have no hesitation in holding that this Court was sought to be misled from the very beginning by filing affidavits which could not be relied on as the same were full of contradictions. It is very unfortunate that the …” (at para 22)
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Adverse finding + compensation. Sentence: compensation only. Compensation: Rs 1 lakh (Rs 1,00,000).
- 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://indiankanoon.org/doc/1910337/); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-1997-0001)

**Record:** CW-1997-0001 (compiler id CWC-0428); case WESTBE-005
**Title:** Panskura Man vs State of West Bengal and Others
**Court:** Calcutta High Court; judges: Bhagabati Prosad Banerjee; Asok Kumar Chakravarty
**Case number / citation:** C.C. No. 18207 (W) of 1995 / 1997 Cri LJ 1762
**Judgment:** 1997-01-31 (1997, day precision)
**Incident date:** 1994-10-17 (1994)
**Place:** Purba Medinipur, West Bengal (district at time: Midnapore); city town: Panskura; police station or unit: Panskura Police Station; force: state_police
**Category:** Violence & unlawful detention
**Sub-category:** custodial death
**Outcome:** Adverse finding + compensation (adverse_finding_compensation)
**Sections:** Constitution Art. 21
**Officers (gated display forms):** Sub-Inspector (then Officer-in-Charge), Panskura Police Station; Assistant Sub-Inspector, Panskura Police Station (2 in record)
**Victims:** Panskura man (1 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** compensation only; Rs 1 lakh (Rs 1,00,000)
**Sentence type:** compensation only (compensation_only)

The judgment of the Calcutta High Court records the following account. A Panskura man, arrested with four others on 8 October 1994, was kept in the Panskura police lock-up without production before a Magistrate, mercilessly tortured, and died on 17 October 1994; police claimed he jumped from a running jeep. On a letter-petition by the Lawyers' Forum for Human Rights, a Division Bench rejected the police story, noting the post-mortem showed death from subdural haemorrhage caused by a hard blunt substance and that the police affidavits were full of contradictions. The court allowed the writ, directed the State to pay Rs 1 lakh divided equally between both widows within two months, and ordered every police station in the State to maintain lock-up and diet registers. Departmental proceedings against SI and ASI were already pending.

> We have no hesitation in holding that this Court was sought to be misled from the very beginning by filing affidavits which could not be relied on as the same were full of contradictions. It is very unfortunate that the post-mortem report which clearly suggested that the death was due to hitting the head with some hard substance.

**Sources (2):** [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1910337/); [courtkutchehry.com](https://www.courtkutchehry.com/judgements/853371/lawyers-forum-for-human-rights-vs-state-of-west-bengal-and/)
**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:** 22
**display title redacted:** Panskura Man vs State of West Bengal and Others
**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': '1997-01-31', 'action_type': 'Order issued', 'status': 'Concluded', 'authority': 'Calcutta High Court', 'independence': 'External', 'legal_effect': 'Binding', 'description': 'The Calcutta High Court recorded adverse findings against police personnel and ordered Rs 100,000.', 'disposition': 'Compensation ordered · Supports allegation (for the compensated wrong only)', 'source': '1997 Cri LJ 1762', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1910337/', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://www.courtkutchehry.com/judgements/853371/lawyers-forum-for-human-rights-vs-state-of-west-bengal-and/', '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:** Rs 1 lakh to two widows for custodial-death beating; statewide registers ordered.
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Adverse finding + compensation.

[Open CW-1997-0001](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-1997-0001)