# B.K. Pandey, Vth Additional District & Sessions Judge vs A. Natrajan, Superintendent of Police and Others

HTML version: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-1998-0008](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-1998-0008)

## Report card

By judgment dated 10 February 1998 in Criminal contempt proceeding (with C.W.J.C. No. 10625 of 1997), the Patna High Court (Coram: N.N. Singh, N. Pandey, JJ.) recorded the conviction of 9 police personnel, namely: Officer-in-Charge, Kotwali Police Station, Bhagalpur; Sub-Inspector, Bhagalpur Police; Sub-Inspector, Bhagalpur Police; Sub-Inspector, Bhagalpur Police; Sub-Inspector, Bhagalpur Police; Sub-Inspector, Bhagalpur Police; Assistant Sub-Inspector, Bhagalpur Police; Station House Officer, Harijan Police Station, Bhagalpur; Sergeant Major, Bhagalpur Police.

- Register number: BR 10 CW 0006
- Case reference: Criminal contempt proceeding (with C.W.J.C. No. 10625 of 1997) / 1998(1) PLJR 650; 1998(2) BLJR 1125
- Court and date: Patna High Court (Coram: N.N. Singh, N. Pandey, JJ.), 10 February 1998
- Officer(s) at the material time: Officer-in-Charge, Kotwali Police Station, Bhagalpur; Sub-Inspector, Bhagalpur Police; Sub-Inspector, Bhagalpur Police; Sub-Inspector, Bhagalpur Police; Sub-Inspector, Bhagalpur Police; Sub-Inspector, Bhagalpur Police; Assistant Sub-Inspector, Bhagalpur Police; Station House Officer, Harijan Police Station, Bhagalpur; Sergeant Major, Bhagalpur Police
- Present service status: Not ascertained from the cited sources.
- Provisions invoked: Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971; Section 17 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971
- Finding of the Court (extract): “Since Shri \[name withheld\] (opposite party No. 3) has acted as 'ring leader' of the contemners in the entire incident and planned the episode with a view to humiliate and assault the A.D.J. 1st (a Bhagalpur man), he deserves a …” (at para 46)
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Conviction entered by High Court. Sentence: imprisonment; maximum substantive term of 0.25 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/1205548/); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-1998-0008)

**Record:** CW-1998-0008 (compiler id CWC-0873); case GAP2-45-003
**Title:** B.K. Pandey, Vth Additional District & Sessions Judge vs A. Natrajan, Superintendent of Police and Others
**Court:** Patna High Court; judges: N.N. Singh; N. Pandey
**Case number / citation:** Criminal contempt proceeding (with C.W.J.C. No. 10625 of 1997) / 1998(1) PLJR 650; 1998(2) BLJR 1125
**Judgment:** 1998-02-10 (1998, day precision)
**Incident date:** 1997-11-18 (1997)
**Place:** Bhagalpur, Bihar; city town: Bhagalpur; police station or unit: Kotwali Police Station and other Bhagalpur units; force: state_police
**Category:** Other misconduct
**Sub-category:** other
**Outcome:** Conviction entered by High Court (conviction_by_hc)
**Sections:** Contempt of Courts Act 1971 s.15; Contempt of Courts Act 1971 s.17
**Officers (gated display forms):** Officer-in-Charge, Kotwali Police Station, Bhagalpur; Sub-Inspector, Bhagalpur Police; Sub-Inspector, Bhagalpur Police; Sub-Inspector, Bhagalpur Police; Sub-Inspector, Bhagalpur Police; Sub-Inspector, Bhagalpur Police; Assistant Sub-Inspector, Bhagalpur Police; Station House Officer, Harijan Police Station, Bhagalpur; Sergeant Major, Bhagalpur Police (9 in record)
**Victims:** Bhagalpur man; Bhagalpur man; Bhagalpur man (3 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** imprisonment; max 0.25 yrs
**Sentence type:** imprisonment (imprisonment)

The judgment of the Patna High Court records the following account. On 18 November 1997, aggrieved by the arrest of a fellow Sub-Inspector, a group of Bhagalpur policemen attacked the 1st Additional District Judge inside his courtroom and chambers. The Patna High Court held that nine identified police officials, led by ringleader \[name withheld\], were guilty of criminal contempt on the affidavits, identification evidence and the DGP's inquiry report. The court rejected their apologies as undeserved given the gravity of assaulting a judge, sentencing Choudhary to three months' simple imprisonment and the other eight to two months each. It directed the State to secure the civil courts and left departmental, commission and criminal proceedings unaffected. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> Since Shri \[name withheld\] (opposite party No. 3) has acted as 'ring leader' of the contemners in the entire incident and planned the episode with a view to humiliate and assault the A.D.J. 1st (a Bhagalpur man), he deserves a severe punishment.

**Sources (2):** [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1205548/); [courtkutchehry.com](https://www.courtkutchehry.com/judgements/747908/bk-pandey-vth-additional-district-and-sessions-judge-and/)
**Verification:** V2 · Externally reported
**Review:** Solo Staff combined review (one combined attestation) — not yet recorded
**admin category:** misconduct
**admin subcategory:** other
**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:** 46
**display title redacted:** B.K. Pandey, Vth Additional District & Sessions Judge vs A. Natrajan, Superintendent of Police 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': '1998-02-10', 'action_type': 'Order issued', 'status': 'Concluded', 'authority': 'Patna High Court', 'independence': 'External', 'legal_effect': 'Binding', 'description': 'The Patna High Court entered convictions against police personnel in this judgment.', 'disposition': 'Conviction · Supports allegation', 'source': '1998(1) PLJR 650; 1998(2) BLJR 1125', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1205548/', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://www.courtkutchehry.com/judgements/747908/bk-pandey-vth-additional-district-and-sessions-judge-and/', 'link_checked': None}
**retracted:** {"is_retracted": false}
**service:** police
**source assessment:** {"established": null, "basis": null}
**status:** current
**subcategory display:** other
**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:** Patna HC convicted 9 Bhagalpur policemen of criminal contempt for the 18.11.1997 courtroom attack on the ADJ.
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Conviction entered by High Court.

[Open CW-1998-0008](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-1998-0008)