# Bhopal Police personnel and others vs State of M.P.

HTML version: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2004-0004](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2004-0004)

## Report card

By judgment dated 16 November 2004 in Crl.A. No. 919 of 1999, the Supreme Court of India (Coram: Arijit Pasayat, C.K. Thakker, JJ.) affirmed the conviction of the Gulab Singh Chaudhury.

- Register number: MP 01 CW 0001
- Case reference: Crl.A. No. 919 of 1999 / AIR 2005 SC 402
- Court and date: Supreme Court of India (Coram: Arijit Pasayat, C.K. Thakker, JJ.), 16 November 2004
- Officer(s) at the material time: Gulab Singh Chaudhury
- Present service status: Not ascertained from the cited sources.
- Provisions invoked: Section 304 Part II of the Indian Penal Code, 1860; Section 330 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860; Section 201 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860; Article 21 of the Constitution of India
- Finding of the Court (extract): “The courts must not lose sight of the fact that death in police custody is perhaps one of the worst kind of crimes in a civilized society, governed by the rule of law and poses a serious threat to an …” (at para n/a)
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Conviction upheld. Sentence: imprisonment; maximum substantive term of 7 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/1102670/); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2004-0004)

**Record:** CW-2004-0004 (compiler id CWC-0217); case GAP2-33-001
**Title:** Bhopal Police personnel and others vs State of M.P.
**Court:** Supreme Court of India; judges: Arijit Pasayat; C.K. Thakker
**Case number / citation:** Crl.A. No. 919 of 1999 / AIR 2005 SC 402
**Judgment:** 2004-11-16 (2004, day precision)
**Incident date:** 1984-06-19 (1984)
**Place:** Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh; city town: Bhopal; police station or unit: Shahjahanabad Police Station; force: state_police
**Category:** Violence & unlawful detention
**Sub-category:** custodial death
**Outcome:** Conviction upheld (conviction_upheld)
**Sections:** IPC 304 Part II; IPC 330; IPC 201; Constitution of India Article 21
**Officers (gated display forms):** Gulab Singh Chaudhury (1 in record)
**Victims:** Bhopal man (1 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** imprisonment; max 7 yrs
**Sentence type:** imprisonment (imprisonment)

Replace final sentence with the recorded defence: each accused denied the allegations; the s.313 version was that police received information of an injured/unconscious person lying near the Nala, and counsel argued the prosecution evidence (PW-12, PW-14) was not cogent. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> The courts must not lose sight of the fact that death in police custody is perhaps one of the worst kind of crimes in a civilized society, governed by the rule of law and poses a serious threat to an orderly civilized society. Torture in custody flouts the basic rights of the citizens recognized by the Indian Constitution and is an affront to human dignity.

**Sources (1):** [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1102670/)
**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:** n/a
**display title redacted:** Bhopal Police personnel and others vs State of M.P.
**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': \['summary'\]}
**followup status:** checked
**institutional response:** {'date': None, 'action_type': 'Conviction', 'status': 'Concluded', 'authority': 'Trial court (as recorded in the Supreme Court of India judgment)', 'independence': 'External', 'legal_effect': 'Binding', 'description': 'The trial court convicted the accused police personnel, as recorded in the Supreme Court of India judgment.', 'disposition': 'Conviction · Supports allegation', 'source': 'AIR 2005 SC 402', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}; {'date': '2004-11-16', 'action_type': 'Order issued', 'status': 'Concluded', 'authority': 'Supreme Court of India', 'independence': 'External', 'legal_effect': 'Binding', 'description': 'The Supreme Court of India dismissed the appeal and upheld the convictions of police personnel.', 'disposition': 'Conviction · Supports allegation (appellate affirmance; trial conviction separate card)', 'source': 'AIR 2005 SC 402', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1102670/', '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:** Supreme Court upheld the conviction of police officer Gulab Singh Chaudhury under IPC 304 Part II for the custodial torture and death of a Bhopal man
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Conviction upheld.

[Open CW-2004-0004](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2004-0004)