# Delhi Police SHO v. State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi)

HTML version: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2009-0009](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2009-0009)

## Report card

By judgment dated 12 November 2009 in Crl. Appeal Nos. 1440-1441 of 2008, the Supreme Court of India (Coram: Harjit Singh Bedi, J.M. Panchal, JJ.) affirmed the conviction of the SHO, PS Vivek Vihar, Delhi, and directed payment of compensation of Rs 5 lakh (Rs 5,00,000).

- Register number: DL 05 CW 0008
- Case reference: Crl. Appeal Nos. 1440-1441 of 2008 / (2009) 17 SCC 445
- Court and date: Supreme Court of India (Coram: Harjit Singh Bedi, J.M. Panchal, JJ.), 12 November 2009
- Officer(s) at the material time: SHO, PS Vivek Vihar, Delhi
- Present service status: Not ascertained from the cited sources.
- Provisions invoked: Section 304 Part II of the Indian Penal Code, 1860
- Finding of the Court (extract): “In the background of the above facts and that the conviction has been made under Sec.304 Part II of the IPC, we confirm the conviction as recorded by the High Court but reduce the sentence from 8 years to five …” (at para n/a)
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Conviction upheld. Sentence: imprisonment and fine; maximum substantive term of 5 years. 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://indiankanoon.org/doc/1316909/); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2009-0009)

**Record:** CW-2009-0009 (compiler id CWC-0094); case DELHI-003
**Title:** Delhi Police SHO v. State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi)
**Court:** Supreme Court of India; judges: Harjit Singh Bedi; J.M. Panchal
**Case number / citation:** Crl. Appeal Nos. 1440-1441 of 2008 / (2009) 17 SCC 445
**Judgment:** 2009-11-12 (2009, day precision)
**Incident date:** 1987-08-24 (1987)
**Place:** Shahdara, Delhi (district at time: East Delhi); city town: Delhi; police station or unit: PS Vivek Vihar, Delhi; force: state_police
**Category:** Violence & unlawful detention
**Sub-category:** custodial death
**Outcome:** Conviction upheld (conviction_upheld)
**Sections:** IPC 304 Part II
**Officers (gated display forms):** SHO, PS Vivek Vihar, Delhi (1 in record)
**Victims:** Delhi man; Delhi man (2 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** mixed; max 5 yrs; Rs 5 lakh (Rs 5,00,000)
**Sentence type:** mixed (mixed)

The judgment of the Supreme Court of India records the following account. After a constable was stabbed on 16 August 1987, PS Vivek Vihar police picked up family members and neighbours of suspects a Delhi man and a Delhi man and confined them at the station as hostages until the duo surrendered. When the two were produced on 24 August 1987, SHO and others beat them severely; a Delhi man died the next day at Lok Nayak hospital. The SDM's inquest indicted the police, though a second inquest blamed the public and almost all witnesses turned hostile over 17 years. The Supreme Court held the concurrent findings of the trial court and High Court germane, confirmed the Section 304-II conviction, but reduced the sentence from eight to five years given the appellant's age and the lapse of time, raising the fine from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh payable as compensation to the deceased's mother. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> In the background of the above facts and that the conviction has been made under Sec.304 Part II of the IPC, we confirm the conviction as recorded by the High Court but reduce the sentence from 8 years to five years and increase the fine from rupees two lacs to five lacs.

**Sources (1):** [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1316909/)
**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:** Delhi Police SHO v. State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi)
**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': '(2009) 17 SCC 445', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}; {'date': '2009-11-12', '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': '(2009) 17 SCC 445', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1316909/', '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:** SC appeal verified on Indian Kanoon; conviction confirmed, 5 yr + Rs 5L fine-as-compensation.
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Conviction upheld.

[Open CW-2009-0009](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2009-0009)