# Talcher Man v. State of Orissa

HTML version: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2007-0019](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2007-0019)

## Report card

By judgment dated 6 September 2007 in W.P.(C) No. 8373 of 2004, the Orissa High Court (Coram: A.K. Ganguly, I. Mahanty, JJ.) returned findings adverse to 3 police personnel, namely: Sub-Inspector, Kalinga Police Beat House, Talcher; Assistant Sub-Inspector (in-charge), Kalinga Police Beat House, Talcher; Circle Inspector, Kalinga Police Beat House, Talcher, and directed payment of compensation of Rs 4.5 lakh (Rs 4,50,000).

- Register number: OD 19 CW 0001
- Case reference: W.P.(C) No. 8373 of 2004 / 2007(II)OLR573
- Court and date: Orissa High Court (Coram: A.K. Ganguly, I. Mahanty, JJ.), 6 September 2007
- Officer(s) at the material time: Sub-Inspector, Kalinga Police Beat House, Talcher; Assistant Sub-Inspector (in-charge), Kalinga Police Beat House, Talcher; Circle Inspector, Kalinga Police Beat House, Talcher
- Present service status: Not ascertained from the cited sources.
- Provisions invoked: Not stated in the cited sources
- Finding of the Court (extract): “Therefore, this Court holds that the police is guilty of causing an infringement of fundamental right of a Talcher man under Article 21 of the Constitution by keeping a Talcher man illegally in their custody and a Talcher man died …” (at para 10)
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Adverse finding + compensation. Sentence: compensation only. Compensation: Rs 4.5 lakh (Rs 4,50,000).
- 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/707487/); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2007-0019)

**Record:** CW-2007-0019 (compiler id CWC-0723); case SWILLEGA-072
**Title:** Talcher Man v. State of Orissa
**Court:** Orissa High Court; judges: A.K. Ganguly; I. Mahanty
**Case number / citation:** W.P.(C) No. 8373 of 2004 / 2007(II)OLR573
**Judgment:** 2007-09-06 (2007, day precision)
**Incident date:** 2003-12-29 (2003)
**Place:** Angul, Odisha; city town: Talcher; police station or unit: Kalinga Police Beat House, Talcher, Angul; force: state_police
**Category:** Violence & unlawful detention
**Sub-category:** illegal detention false imprisonment
**Outcome:** Adverse finding + compensation (adverse_finding_compensation)
**Officers (gated display forms):** Sub-Inspector, Kalinga Police Beat House, Talcher; Assistant Sub-Inspector (in-charge), Kalinga Police Beat House, Talcher; Circle Inspector, Kalinga Police Beat House, Talcher (1 in record)
**Victims:** Talcher man, age 26 (1 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** compensation only; Rs 4.5 lakh (Rs 4,50,000)
**Sentence type:** compensation only (compensation_only)

The Orissa High Court (A.K. Ganguly, CJ and I. Mahanty, J.), treating a citizen's letter as PIL, awarded a further Rs 3 lakh to Kastu Behera for the death of his 26-year-old tipper-driver son \[name withheld\] during illegal police custody. The Court found a Talcher man, who was not an accused, was forcibly taken from home on 29 December 2003 and confined for three days in Kalinga Beat House for interrogation in a Sarpanch murder case without any magistrate's order and without the written requisition required by s.160 CrPC, and was found hanging on 31 December 2003. Holding the police guilty of infringing Article 21, the Court ordered the additional sum (over Rs 50,000 ex gratia and Rs 1 lakh interim already paid) with liberty to recover from the erring officers. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> Therefore, this Court holds that the police is guilty of causing an infringement of fundamental right of a Talcher man under Article 21 of the Constitution by keeping a Talcher man illegally in their custody and a Talcher man died by allegedly committing suicide in course of such illegal detention.

**Sources (1):** [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/707487/)
**Verification:** V2 · Externally reported
**Review:** Solo Staff combined review (one combined attestation) — not yet recorded
**admin category:** brutality
**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:** 10
**display title redacted:** Talcher Man v. State of Orissa
**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': \['officers'\]}
**followup status:** checked
**institutional response:** {'date': '2007-09-06', '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 450,000.', 'disposition': 'Compensation ordered · Supports allegation (for the compensated wrong only)', 'source': '2007(II)OLR573', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/707487/', '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 PIL judgment verified on Indian Kanoon; Rs 3L additional for 3-day illegal detention + death matches.
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Adverse finding + compensation.

[Open CW-2007-0019](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2007-0019)