# Budalur Man and Others vs State of Tamil Nadu and Others

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## Report card

By judgment dated 8 April 1999 in Writ Petition No. 1966 of 1992, the Madras High Court (Coram: P.D. Dinakaran, J., J.) returned findings adverse to the Police personnel, Budalur Police Station, and directed payment of compensation of Rs 5 lakh (Rs 5,00,000).

- Register number: TN 49 CW 0001
- Case reference: Writ Petition No. 1966 of 1992 / (2000) 1 LW(Cri) 96
- Court and date: Madras High Court (Coram: P.D. Dinakaran, J., J.), 8 April 1999
- Officer(s) at the material time: Police personnel, Budalur Police Station
- Present service status: Not ascertained from the cited sources.
- Provisions invoked: Section 342 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860; Article 21 of the Constitution of India; Article 226 of the Constitution of India
- Finding of the Court (extract): “The case in hand is in no way different from the facts and circumstances of the cases of custodial deaths referred to above as admittedly it is found by this Court that the said Dorairaj died when he was in …” (at para 11)
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Adverse finding + compensation. Sentence: compensation only. Compensation: Rs 5 lakh (Rs 5,00,000).
- 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://www.courtkutchehry.com/judgements/62038/d-ranganayagi-and-others-vs-state-of-tamil-nadu/); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-1999-0002)

**Record:** CW-1999-0002 (compiler id CWC-0374); case TAMILN-010
**Title:** Budalur Man and Others vs State of Tamil Nadu and Others
**Court:** Madras High Court; judges: P.D. Dinakaran, J.
**Case number / citation:** Writ Petition No. 1966 of 1992 / (2000) 1 LW(Cri) 96
**Judgment:** 1999-04-08 (1999, day precision)
**Incident date:** 1981-06-11 (1981)
**Place:** Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu; city town: Budalur; police station or unit: Budalur Police Station; force: state_police
**Category:** Violence & unlawful detention
**Sub-category:** custodial death
**Outcome:** Adverse finding + compensation (adverse_finding_compensation)
**Sections:** IPC 342; Constitution of India Article 21; Constitution of India Article 226
**Officers (gated display forms):** Police personnel, Budalur Police Station (5 in record)
**Victims:** Budalur man (1 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** compensation only; Rs 5 lakh (Rs 5,00,000)
**Sentence type:** compensation only (compensation_only)

The Madras High Court awarded Rs 5,00,000 as public law compensation to the widow and four children of a Budalur man, who died under police custody at Budalur Police Station in Thanjavur district on 11.06.1981. An enquiry by the Revenue Divisional Officer concluded that the deceased was killed in custody and held all five on-duty police personnel responsible. While the trial court initially acquitted them, the High Court on State appeal convicted all five police personnel under Section 342 IPC for wrongful confinement on 11.05.1991. Justice P.D. Dinakaran held that custodial death constitutes a grave infraction of Article 21 and rejected the State's plea of delay, ordering the payment of Rs 5 lakh in equal shares to the dependents alongside a recommendation for compassionate public employment. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> The case in hand is in no way different from the facts and circumstances of the cases of custodial deaths referred to above as admittedly it is found by this Court that the said Dorairaj died when he was in police custody.

**Sources (1):** [courtkutchehry.com](https://www.courtkutchehry.com/judgements/62038/d-ranganayagi-and-others-vs-state-of-tamil-nadu/)
**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:** 11
**display title redacted:** Budalur Man and Others vs State of Tamil Nadu 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': '1999-04-08', 'action_type': 'Order issued', 'status': 'Concluded', 'authority': 'Madras High Court', 'independence': 'External', 'legal_effect': 'Binding', 'description': 'The Madras High Court recorded adverse findings against police personnel and ordered Rs 500,000.', 'disposition': 'Compensation ordered · Supports allegation (for the compensated wrong only)', 'source': '(2000) 1 LW(Cri) 96', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://www.courtkutchehry.com/judgements/62038/d-ranganayagi-and-others-vs-state-of-tamil-nadu/', '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:** High Court awarded Rs 5 lakh compensation for custodial death of a Budalur man at Budalur PS, noting police were convicted under IPC 342.
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Adverse finding + compensation.

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