# Mehal Kalan Police Sub-Inspector (SHO) vs State of Punjab

HTML version: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2010-0016](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2010-0016)

## Report card

By judgment dated 10 August 2010 in Crl. Appeal No.558-SB of 1999, the Punjab and Haryana High Court (Coram: Jora Singh, J.) affirmed the conviction of the Sub-Inspector (SHO), Police Station Mehal Kalan.

- Register number: PB 19 CW 0003
- Case reference: Crl. Appeal No.558-SB of 1999
- Court and date: Punjab and Haryana High Court (Coram: Jora Singh, J.), 10 August 2010
- Officer(s) at the material time: Sub-Inspector (SHO), Police Station Mehal Kalan
- 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): “Police officials are the custodial of law. They are to maintain law and order and are not to violate the same.”
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Conviction upheld. Sentence: imprisonment; maximum substantive term of 1 year.
- 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/39001431/); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2010-0016)

**Record:** CW-2010-0016 (compiler id CWC-0715); case GAP8-001
**Title:** Mehal Kalan Police Sub-Inspector (SHO) vs State of Punjab
**Court:** Punjab and Haryana High Court; judges: Jora Singh
**Case number / citation:** Crl. Appeal No.558-SB of 1999
**Judgment:** 2010-08-10 (2010, day precision)
**Incident date:** 1995-07-31 (1995)
**Place:** Barnala, Punjab (district at time: Sangrur); city town: Mehal Kalan; police station or unit: Police Station Mehal Kalan; 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):** Sub-Inspector (SHO), Police Station Mehal Kalan (1 in record)
**Victims:** Mehal Kalan man (1 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** imprisonment; max 1 yrs
**Sentence type:** imprisonment (imprisonment)

The judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court records the following account. Vegetable seller a Mehal Kalan man, wanted in a murder FIR, was arrested on 31 July 1995 by SHO and lodged in the Mehal Kalan lock-up at 6:30 p.m.; police claimed he suffered fits at 7 p.m. and died en route to hospital, but the post-mortem showed 15 injuries including testicle injuries and electric-shock marks, and the body was cremated the same night. The trial court convicted the SHO under Section 304 Part-II IPC (1 year RI, Rs.10,000 fine) and acquitted three co-accused. The High Court held a Mehal Kalan man died an unnatural death within about 30 minutes of detention due to torture, dismissed the appeal, and refused probation, observing release would instigate police torture of innocents. Date per judgment's internal header 10.8.2010 (Kanoon title says 10 Sept 2010). Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> Police officials are the custodial of law. They are to maintain law and order and are not to violate the same.

**Sources (1):** [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/39001431/)
**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
**display title redacted:** Mehal Kalan Police Sub-Inspector (SHO) vs State of Punjab
**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 Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment)', 'independence': 'External', 'legal_effect': 'Binding', 'description': 'The trial court convicted the accused police personnel, as recorded in the Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment.', 'disposition': 'Conviction · Supports allegation', 'source': 'Crl. Appeal No.558-SB of 1999', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}; {'date': '2010-08-10', 'action_type': 'Order issued', 'status': 'Concluded', 'authority': 'Punjab and Haryana High Court', 'independence': 'External', 'legal_effect': 'Binding', 'description': 'The Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the convictions of police personnel.', 'disposition': 'Conviction · Supports allegation (appellate affirmance; trial conviction separate card)', 'source': 'Crl. Appeal No.558-SB of 1999', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/39001431/', '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:** SHO's s.304-II conviction for lock-up torture death upheld (1y RI); probation refused.
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Conviction upheld.

[Open CW-2010-0016](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2010-0016)