# Pundri Boy and another vs The State of Haryana and others

HTML version: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2011-0001](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2011-0001)

## Report card

By judgment dated 12 January 2011 in Civil Writ Petition No. 11653 of 2008, the Punjab and Haryana High Court (Coram: Ranjit Singh, J.) returned findings adverse to 2 police personnel, namely: Station House Officer, Police Station Pundri; Assistant Sub-Inspector, Police Station Pundri, and directed payment of compensation of Rs 10 lakh (Rs 10,00,000).

- Register number: HR 08 CW 0002
- Case reference: Civil Writ Petition No. 11653 of 2008
- Court and date: Punjab and Haryana High Court (Coram: Ranjit Singh, J.), 12 January 2011
- Officer(s) at the material time: Station House Officer, Police Station Pundri; Assistant Sub-Inspector, Police Station Pundri
- Present service status: Not ascertained from the cited sources.
- Provisions invoked: Article 21 of the Constitution of India; Article 226 of the Constitution of India; Section 176(1A) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
- Finding of the Court (extract): “Two persons have died while in police custody. To keep them safe and to safeguard their lives was the responsibility of the police. The police officials are, therefore, liable.” (at para n/a)
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Adverse finding + compensation. Sentence: compensation only. Compensation: Rs 10 lakh (Rs 10,00,000).
- 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/132005687/); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2011-0001)

**Record:** CW-2011-0001 (compiler id CWC-0160); case NORTH-004
**Title:** Pundri Boy and another vs The State of Haryana and others
**Court:** Punjab and Haryana High Court; judges: Ranjit Singh
**Case number / citation:** Civil Writ Petition No. 11653 of 2008
**Judgment:** 2011-01-12 (2011, day precision)
**Incident date:** 2007-08-13 (2007)
**Place:** Kaithal, Haryana; city town: Pundri; police station or unit: Police Station Pundri; force: state_police
**Category:** Violence & unlawful detention
**Sub-category:** custodial death
**Outcome:** Adverse finding + compensation (adverse_finding_compensation)
**Sections:** Constitution Art. 21; Constitution Art. 226; CrPC s.176(1A)
**Officers (gated display forms):** Station House Officer, Police Station Pundri; Assistant Sub-Inspector, Police Station Pundri (2 in record)
**Victims:** Pundri boy, age 16; Pundri man (2 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** compensation only; Rs 10 lakh (Rs 10,00,000)
**Sentence type:** compensation only (compensation_only)

The judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court records the following account. a 16-year-old boy (16) and a man died of celphos poisoning while locked up at Police Station Pundri, Kaithal, following an alleged illegal detention on 11 August 2007. Official inquiries revealed gross police negligence and tampering with custody timings by SHO. The High Court held the police strictly liable for the lives of detainees in their custody under Article 21 and directed the State of Haryana to pay Rs. 5,00,000 to each victim's family. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> Two persons have died while in police custody. To keep them safe and to safeguard their lives was the responsibility of the police. The police officials are, therefore, liable.

**Sources (1):** [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/132005687/)
**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:** True
**court quote para:** n/a
**display title redacted:** Pundri Boy and another vs The State of Haryana and others
**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': '2011-01-12', 'action_type': 'Order issued', 'status': 'Concluded', 'authority': 'Punjab and Haryana High Court', 'independence': 'External', 'legal_effect': 'Binding', 'description': 'The Punjab and Haryana High Court recorded adverse findings against police personnel and ordered Rs 1,000,000.', 'disposition': 'Compensation ordered · Supports allegation (for the compensated wrong only)', 'source': 'Civil Writ Petition No. 11653 of 2008', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/132005687/', '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:** High Court held police strictly liable for custodial poisoning deaths of two detainees at PS Pundri and awarded Rs 5 lakh compensation to each family (Rs 10 lakh total).
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**victims redacted:** {'age': 16, 'gender': 'male', 'descriptor': 'a 16-year-old boy'}; {'age': None, 'gender': 'male', 'descriptor': 'a man'}
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Adverse finding + compensation.

[Open CW-2011-0001](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2011-0001)