# Soro Man vs State Of Orissa And Ors.

HTML version: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2003-0006](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2003-0006)

## Report card

By judgment dated 20 June 2003, the Orissa High Court (Coram: A.K. Patnaik, P.K. Misra, JJ.) returned findings adverse to 5 police personnel, namely: Sub-Inspector, Soro Police Station; Assistant Sub-Inspector, Soro Police Station; Officer-in-Charge, Soro Police Station; Constable, Soro Police Station; Constable, Soro Police Station, and directed payment of compensation of Rs 10,000.

- Register number: OD 01 CW 0001
- Case reference: 2003 (II) OLR 151; 96 (2003) CLT 261; II (2004) ACC 728
- Court and date: Orissa High Court (Coram: A.K. Patnaik, P.K. Misra, JJ.), 20 June 2003
- Officer(s) at the material time: Sub-Inspector, Soro Police Station; Assistant Sub-Inspector, Soro Police Station; Officer-in-Charge, Soro Police Station; Constable, Soro Police Station; Constable, Soro Police Station
- 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 was, thus, a clear case of arrest of the petitioner and detention of the petitioner in police custody without any authority of law.” (at para 4)
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Adverse finding + compensation. Sentence: compensation only. Compensation: Rs 10,000.
- 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/376706/); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2003-0006)

**Record:** CW-2003-0006 (compiler id CWC-0283); case ODISHA-007
**Title:** Soro Man vs State Of Orissa And Ors.
**Court:** Orissa High Court; judges: A.K. Patnaik; P.K. Misra
**Case number / citation:** 2003 (II) OLR 151; 96 (2003) CLT 261; II (2004) ACC 728
**Judgment:** 2003-06-20 (2003, day precision)
**Incident date:** 1997-03-22 (1997)
**Place:** Balasore, Odisha; city town: Soro; police station or unit: Soro Police Station; force: state_police
**Category:** Violence & unlawful detention
**Sub-category:** illegal detention false imprisonment
**Outcome:** Adverse finding + compensation (adverse_finding_compensation)
**Sections:** Article 21; Article 226
**Officers (gated display forms):** Sub-Inspector, Soro Police Station; Assistant Sub-Inspector, Soro Police Station; Officer-in-Charge, Soro Police Station; Constable, Soro Police Station; Constable, Soro Police Station (5 in record)
**Victims:** Soro man (1 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** compensation only; Rs 10,000
**Sentence type:** compensation only (compensation_only)

The judgment of the Orissa High Court records the following account. Petitioner a Soro man visited Soro Police Station on 22 March 1997 to lodge an FIR regarding illegal felling of trees, but was instead detained overnight in the police lock-up. Police claimed he was arrested pursuant to a non-bailable warrant in Special Case No. 23 of 1995, but the Sessions Judge records established that the warrant had been issued against his son \[name withheld\], not the petitioner. The Orissa High Court held that the petitioner was arrested and detained without any authority of law, in direct violation of his fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution. The Court awarded Rs. 7,000 as compensation and Rs. 3,000 as litigation costs to be paid by the State, with liberty to recover the sum from the responsible police personnel of Soro Police Station. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> This was, thus, a clear case of arrest of the petitioner and detention of the petitioner in police custody without any authority of law.

**Sources (1):** [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/376706/)
**Verification:** V2 · Externally reported
**Review:** Solo Staff combined review (one combined attestation) — not yet recorded
**admin category:** misconduct
**admin subcategory:** illegal_detention_false_imprisonment
**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:** 4
**display title redacted:** Soro Man vs State Of Orissa 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': 'wrong_facts', 'corrections_applied': \['court_quote'\]}
**followup status:** checked
**institutional response:** {'date': '2003-06-20', 'action_type': 'Order issued', 'status': 'Concluded', 'authority': 'Orissa High Court', 'independence': 'External', 'legal_effect': 'Binding', 'description': 'The Orissa High Court recorded adverse findings against police personnel and ordered Rs 10,000.', 'disposition': 'Compensation ordered · Supports allegation (for the compensated wrong only)', 'source': '2003 (II) OLR 151; 96 (2003) CLT 261; II (2004) ACC 728', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/376706/', 'link_checked': None}
**retracted:** {"is_retracted": false}
**service:** police
**source assessment:** {"established": null, "basis": null}
**status:** current
**subcategory display:** illegal detention false imprisonment
**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:** Orissa HC found illegal arrest and overnight detention of petitioner without warrant in place of his son, awarding Rs. 7,000 compensation and Rs. 3,000 costs recoverable from erring police.
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Adverse finding + compensation.

[Open CW-2003-0006](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2003-0006)