# Banur Man vs State of Punjab

HTML version: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2013-0012](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2013-0012)

## Report card

By judgment dated 1 August 1997 in Criminal Miscellaneous No. 22334-M of 1996, the Punjab and Haryana High Court (Coram: R.L. Anand, J.) returned findings adverse to the Police personnel, Banur Police Station, and directed payment of compensation of Rs 50,000.

- Register number: PB 11 CW 0003
- Case reference: Criminal Miscellaneous No. 22334-M of 1996 / (1997) 4 RCR (Criminal) 176
- Court and date: Punjab and Haryana High Court (Coram: R.L. Anand, J.), 1 August 1997
- Officer(s) at the material time: Police personnel, Banur Police Station
- Present service status: Not ascertained from the cited sources.
- Provisions invoked: Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
- Finding of the Court (extract): “As I have fixed the responsibility on the functionaries of the State, I order the respondents to pay a sum of Rs. 50,000/- by way of compensation to the mother of the deceased.”
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Adverse finding + compensation. Sentence: compensation only. Compensation: Rs 50,000.
- 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://www.courtkutchehry.com/judgements/147105/sadhu-singh-vs-state-of-punjab/); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2013-0012)

**Record:** CW-2013-0012 (compiler id CWC-0713); case PUNJAB-013
**Title:** Banur Man vs State of Punjab
**Court:** Punjab and Haryana High Court; judges: R.L. Anand
**Case number / citation:** Criminal Miscellaneous No. 22334-M of 1996 / (1997) 4 RCR (Criminal) 176
**Judgment:** 1997-08-01 (1997, day precision)
**Incident date:** 1991-09-01 (1991)
**Place:** Patiala, Punjab; city town: Banur; police station or unit: Banur Police Station; force: state_police
**Category:** Violence & unlawful detention
**Sub-category:** custodial death
**Outcome:** Adverse finding + compensation (adverse_finding_compensation)
**Sections:** CrPC 482
**Officers (gated display forms):** Police personnel, Banur Police Station (1 in record)
**Victims:** Banur man (1 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** compensation only; Rs 50,000
**Sentence type:** compensation only (compensation_only)

The High Court of Punjab and Haryana held the police of Police Station Banur responsible for the custodial death of a Banur man on 1 September 1991. The police claimed the detainee committed suicide by consuming cyanide during an escorted weapon recovery operation, but the Court determined that cyanide could not have been accessible to a person in continuous police custody without gross omission and negligence by police functionaries. While declining a CBI inquiry six years after the incident, the High Court held that constitutional protections extend even to suspects of shady character and directed payment of Rs 50,000 compensation to the deceased's mother. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> As I have fixed the responsibility on the functionaries of the State, I order the respondents to pay a sum of Rs. 50,000/- by way of compensation to the mother of the deceased.

**Sources (1):** [courtkutchehry.com](https://www.courtkutchehry.com/judgements/147105/sadhu-singh-vs-state-of-punjab/)
**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:** Banur Man 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': '1997-08-01', '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 50,000.', 'disposition': 'Compensation ordered · Supports allegation (for the compensated wrong only)', 'source': '(1997) 4 RCR (Criminal) 176', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://www.courtkutchehry.com/judgements/147105/sadhu-singh-vs-state-of-punjab/', '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:** Punjab & Haryana HC held Banur police responsible for custodial death of a Banur man by cyanide ingestion, awarding Rs 50,000 compensation to his mother.
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Adverse finding + compensation.

[Open CW-2013-0012](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2013-0012)