# Talamitingi Man vs State Of Orissa And Others

HTML version: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2011-0018](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2011-0018)

## Report card

By judgment dated 20 September 2011 in W.P.(Crl.) No.379 of 2011, the Orissa High Court (Coram: B.N. Mahapatra, V. Gopala Gowda, JJ.) returned findings adverse to 2 police personnel, namely: Deputy Subedar, Special Operation Group Assault Team No. 23; Sub-Inspector, Special Operation Group, and directed payment of compensation of Rs 4 lakh (Rs 4,00,000).

- Register number: OD 10 CW 0001
- Case reference: W.P.(Crl.) No.379 of 2011
- Court and date: Orissa High Court (Coram: B.N. Mahapatra, V. Gopala Gowda, JJ.), 20 September 2011
- Officer(s) at the material time: Deputy Subedar, Special Operation Group Assault Team No. 23; Sub-Inspector, Special Operation Group
- 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
- Finding of the Court (extract): “It is not uncommon that in a cross firing between Police and anti-social(s), some times an innocent person is being caught and killed. If life of an innocent person is taken away by Police during the course of any encounter …” (at para 13)
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Adverse finding + compensation. Sentence: compensation only. Compensation: Rs 4 lakh (Rs 4,00,000).
- 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/140389596/); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2011-0018)

**Record:** CW-2011-0018 (compiler id CWC-0288); case ODISHA-012
**Title:** Talamitingi Man vs State Of Orissa And Others
**Court:** Orissa High Court; judges: B.N. Mahapatra; V. Gopala Gowda
**Case number / citation:** W.P.(Crl.) No.379 of 2011
**Judgment:** 2011-09-20 (2011, day precision)
**Incident date:** 2009-04-13 (2009)
**Place:** Koraput, Odisha; city town: Talamitingi; police station or unit: Kakirigumma Police Station; force: state_police
**Category:** Violence & unlawful detention
**Sub-category:** fake encounter extrajudicial killing
**Outcome:** Adverse finding + compensation (adverse_finding_compensation)
**Sections:** Article 21; Article 226
**Officers (gated display forms):** Deputy Subedar, Special Operation Group Assault Team No. 23; Sub-Inspector, Special Operation Group (2 in record)
**Victims:** Talamitingi man, age 28 (1 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** compensation only; Rs 4 lakh (Rs 4,00,000)
**Sentence type:** compensation only (compensation_only)

The judgment of the Orissa High Court records the following account. A Talamitingi man, aged 28, of Karon Jajhola (Narayanpatna) then staying at Talamitingi, was found dead on 13 April 2009 after an exchange of fire between SOG assault teams (Dy. Subedar's Team No.23 and SI 's team) and Maoists near the village. Police claimed he was an armed Maoist and recovered weapons near the body; his widow alleged he was an unarmed tribal shot by jawans and that the body was not handed over (co-villagers' affidavits), while police claimed handover with acknowledgement. The SP's report conceded it could not be conclusively established that a Talamitingi man fired at police or belonged to the attacking group, noting his hand wash was never taken; the OHRC had awarded Rs 1.5 lakh. The High Court held it could not be said he was a CPI (Maoist) member or fired at police, applied respondeat superior to an innocent death in cross-fire, directed Rs 4 lakh inclusive of interest to the widow, and declined further investigation. The court did not find a staged encounter. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> It is not uncommon that in a cross firing between Police and anti-social(s), some times an innocent person is being caught and killed. If life of an innocent person is taken away by Police during the course of any encounter between Police and anti-social(s), such case(s) is/are governed by the legal maxim "respondeat superior" and thus the State is liable for the wrong done by the Police.

**Sources (1):** [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/140389596/)
**Verification:** V2 · Externally reported
**Review:** Solo Staff combined review (one combined attestation) — not yet recorded
**admin category:** brutality
**admin subcategory:** fake_encounter_extrajudicial_killing
**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:** 13
**display title redacted:** Talamitingi Man vs State Of Orissa 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': 'wrong_facts', 'corrections_applied': \['summary'\]}
**followup status:** checked
**institutional response:** {'date': '2011-09-20', '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 400,000.', 'disposition': 'Compensation ordered · Supports allegation (for the compensated wrong only)', 'source': 'W.P.(Crl.) No.379 of 2011', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/140389596/', 'link_checked': None}
**retracted:** {"is_retracted": false}
**service:** police
**source assessment:** {"established": null, "basis": null}
**status:** current
**subcategory display:** fake encounter extrajudicial killing
**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 rejected police claim that slain tribal was an armed Maoist, holding State liable under respondeat superior for police killing an innocent villager and awarding Rs. 4 lakh compensation.
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Adverse finding + compensation.

[Open CW-2011-0018](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2011-0018)