# West Bengal Police Constable v. State of West Bengal

HTML version: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2015-0019](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2015-0019)

## Report card

By judgment dated 29 January 2015 in CRA 310 of 2008, the Calcutta High Court (Coram: S. Chatterjee, Nishita Mhatre, JJ.) affirmed the conviction of the Constable, West Bengal Police (vehicle-check duty, Ballykhal, G.T. Road, Uttarpara).

- Register number: WB 15 CW 0001
- Case reference: CRA 310 of 2008 / (2015) 01 CAL CK 0031
- Court and date: Calcutta High Court (Coram: S. Chatterjee, Nishita Mhatre, JJ.), 29 January 2015
- Officer(s) at the material time: Constable, West Bengal Police (vehicle-check duty, Ballykhal, G.T. Road, Uttarpara)
- 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): “The conviction of the appellant under Section 302 of the IPC is set aside. Instead, he is convicted under Section 304 Part II.” (at para 22)
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Conviction upheld. Sentence: imprisonment; maximum substantive term of 6.83 years.
- 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/871382/purnendu-samanta-appellant-hash-state-of-west-bengal-respondent/); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2015-0019)

**Record:** CW-2015-0019 (compiler id CWC-0948); case GAP2-15-001
**Title:** West Bengal Police Constable v. State of West Bengal
**Court:** Calcutta High Court; judges: S. Chatterjee; Nishita Mhatre
**Case number / citation:** CRA 310 of 2008 / (2015) 01 CAL CK 0031
**Judgment:** 2015-01-29 (2015, day precision)
**Incident date:** 2003-09-04 (2003)
**Place:** Hooghly, West Bengal; city town: Uttarpara; police station or unit: Uttarpara Police Station; force: state_police
**Category:** Violence & unlawful detention
**Sub-category:** disproportionate force
**Outcome:** Conviction upheld (conviction_upheld)
**Sections:** IPC 304 Part II
**Officers (gated display forms):** Constable, West Bengal Police (vehicle-check duty, Ballykhal, G.T. Road, Uttarpara) (1 in record)
**Victims:** Uttarpara resident (1 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** imprisonment; max 6.83 yrs
**Sentence type:** imprisonment (imprisonment)

The judgment of the Calcutta High Court records the following account. Around 0.30 a.m. on 4 September 2003 constable, on routine two-wheeler checking duty at Ballykhal on G.T. Road, Uttarpara, blocked the road to stop a yellow Hero Honda motorcycle that had sped past the first picket and fired a shot from his service revolver, killing the rider. The trial court convicted him under Section 302 IPC with life imprisonment plus Rs. 10,000 fine on 18 April 2008. The court held there was no dispute he was on duty and that he fired in good faith in due discharge of duty without intent to kill, so the act fell under Exception 3 to Section 300 IPC. It set aside the murder conviction, convicted him under Section 304 Part II IPC instead, and held the 6 years 10 months already undergone commensurate, ordering release if not required in any other case. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> The conviction of the appellant under Section 302 of the IPC is set aside. Instead, he is convicted under Section 304 Part II.

**Sources (1):** [courtkutchehry.com](https://www.courtkutchehry.com/judgements/871382/purnendu-samanta-appellant-hash-state-of-west-bengal-respondent/)
**Verification:** V2 · Externally reported
**Review:** Solo Staff combined review (one combined attestation) — not yet recorded
**admin category:** brutality
**admin subcategory:** disproportionate_force
**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:** 22
**display title redacted:** West Bengal Police Constable v. State of West Bengal
**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 Calcutta High Court judgment)', 'independence': 'External', 'legal_effect': 'Binding', 'description': 'The trial court convicted the accused police personnel, as recorded in the Calcutta High Court judgment.', 'disposition': 'Conviction · Supports allegation', 'source': '(2015) 01 CAL CK 0031', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}; {'date': '2015-01-29', 'action_type': 'Order issued', 'status': 'Concluded', 'authority': 'Calcutta High Court', 'independence': 'External', 'legal_effect': 'Binding', 'description': 'The Calcutta High Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the convictions of police personnel.', 'disposition': 'Conviction · Supports allegation (appellate affirmance; trial conviction separate card)', 'source': '(2015) 01 CAL CK 0031', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://www.courtkutchehry.com/judgements/871382/purnendu-samanta-appellant-hash-state-of-west-bengal-respondent/', 'link_checked': None}
**retracted:** {"is_retracted": false}
**service:** police
**source assessment:** {"established": null, "basis": null}
**status:** current
**subcategory display:** disproportionate force
**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:** On-duty fatal shooting reduced from murder to s.304-II; 6y10m undergone held sufficient.
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Conviction upheld.

[Open CW-2015-0019](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2015-0019)