# Bhoopat Singh v. J.B. Kataria and Ors.

HTML version: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2009-0008](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2009-0008)

## Report card

By judgment dated 11 August 2009 in Criminal Appeal Nos. 976-977 of 2002, the Supreme Court of India (Coram: B.N. Agrawal, G.S. Singhvi, JJ.) affirmed the conviction of the J.B. Katariya (Station Officer).

- Register number: UP 94 CW 0002
- Case reference: Criminal Appeal Nos. 976-977 of 2002
- Court and date: Supreme Court of India (Coram: B.N. Agrawal, G.S. Singhvi, JJ.), 11 August 2009
- Officer(s) at the material time: J.B. Katariya (Station Officer)
- Present service status: Not ascertained from the cited sources.
- Provisions invoked: Section 304 Part II of the Indian Penal Code, 1860; Section 342 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860
- Finding of the Court (extract): “we consider it necessary to mention that the appellant had taken undue advantage of his position as a police officer and mercilessly assaulted the deceased while he was in police custody. As many as 18 injuries were inflicted on the …” (at para n/a)
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Conviction upheld. Sentence: imprisonment and fine; maximum substantive term of 5.0 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/1494641/); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2009-0008)

**Record:** CW-2009-0008 (compiler id CWC-0392); case UTTARP-003
**Title:** Bhoopat Singh v. J.B. Kataria and Ors.
**Court:** Supreme Court of India; judges: B.N. Agrawal; G.S. Singhvi
**Case number / citation:** Criminal Appeal Nos. 976-977 of 2002
**Judgment:** 2009-08-11 (2009, day precision)
**Incident date:** 1987-03-07 (1987)
**Place:** Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh; city town: Sojna; police station or unit: PS Sojna, Lalitpur; force: state_police
**Category:** Violence & unlawful detention
**Sub-category:** custodial death
**Outcome:** Conviction upheld (conviction_upheld)
**Sections:** IPC 304 Part II; IPC 342
**Officers (gated display forms):** J.B. Katariya (Station Officer) (1 in record)
**Victims:** Sojna man, age 20 (1 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** mixed; max 5.0 yrs
**Sentence type:** mixed (mixed)

The judgment of the Supreme Court of India records the following account. A Sojna man, a young medical practitioner of village Sojna, was arrested on 7 March 1987 under Section 307 IPC and brutally assaulted by Station Officer J.B. Katariya, sustaining 18 injuries across his body before succumbing to death in police custody on 8/9 March 1987. The Special Sessions Judge, Lalitpur, convicted Katariya of murder under Section 302 IPC, sentencing him to life imprisonment, but the Allahabad High Court converted the conviction to Section 304 Part II IPC and reduced the sentence to two years imprisonment with a Rs 25,000 fine. On cross-appeals, the Supreme Court held that the officer mercilessly assaulted the deceased while in custody, taking undue advantage of his official position. The Supreme Court dismissed Katariya appeal, affirmed his conviction under Section 304 Part II IPC, cancelled his bail, and enhanced his sentence of imprisonment from two years to five years rigorous imprisonment.

> we consider it necessary to mention that the appellant had taken undue advantage of his position as a police officer and mercilessly assaulted the deceased while he was in police custody. As many as 18 injuries were inflicted on the person of the deceased.

**Sources (3):** [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1494641/); [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/17373/); [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/110740214/)
**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:** Bhoopat Singh v. J.B. Kataria 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': 'holds', 'corrections_applied': \[\]}
**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': 'Criminal Appeal Nos. 976-977 of 2002', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}; {'date': '2009-08-11', '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': 'Criminal Appeal Nos. 976-977 of 2002', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1494641/', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/17373/', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/110740214/', '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 s. 304 Part II IPC conviction of SO Katariya for custodial death and enhanced sentence from 2 to 5 years RI.
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Conviction upheld.

[Open CW-2009-0008](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2009-0008)