# Thiruvananthapuram Man vs \[name withheld\] & Others

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## Report card

By judgment dated 14 September 2018 in Civil Appeal Nos. 6637-6638 of 2018, the Supreme Court of India (Coram: Dipak Misra, A.M. Khanwilkar, D.Y. Chandrachud, JJ.) returned findings adverse to 3 police personnel, namely: Deputy Inspector General, Kerala Police Special Investigation Team; Inspector, Special Branch, Thiruvananthapuram City; Deputy Superintendent of Police, Crime Branch CID, Thiruvananthapuram, and directed payment of compensation of Rs 50 lakh (Rs 50,00,000).

- Register number: KL 01 CW 0011
- Case reference: Civil Appeal Nos. 6637-6638 of 2018 / (2018) 10 SCC 804
- Court and date: Supreme Court of India (Coram: Dipak Misra, A.M. Khanwilkar, D.Y. Chandrachud, JJ.), 14 September 2018
- Officer(s) at the material time: Deputy Inspector General, Kerala Police Special Investigation Team; Inspector, Special Branch, Thiruvananthapuram City; Deputy Superintendent of Police, Crime Branch CID, Thiruvananthapuram
- Present service status: Not ascertained from the cited sources.
- Provisions invoked: Article 21 of the Constitution of India; Section 3 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923; Section 4 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923
- Finding of the Court (extract): “As stated earlier, the entire prosecution initiated by the State police was malicious and it has caused tremendous harassment and immeasurable anguish to the appellant. It is not a case where the accused is kept under custody and, eventually, after …” (at para 31)
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Adverse finding + compensation. Sentence: compensation only. Compensation: Rs 50 lakh (Rs 50,00,000).
- 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/140150087/); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2018-0013)

**Record:** CW-2018-0013 (compiler id CWC-0215); case SUPREM-014
**Title:** Thiruvananthapuram Man vs \[name withheld\] & Others
**Court:** Supreme Court of India; judges: Dipak Misra; A.M. Khanwilkar; D.Y. Chandrachud
**Case number / citation:** Civil Appeal Nos. 6637-6638 of 2018 / (2018) 10 SCC 804
**Judgment:** 2018-09-14 (2018, day precision)
**Incident date:** 1994-11-30 (1994)
**Place:** Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala; city town: Thiruvananthapuram; police station or unit: Vanchiyoor Police Station; force: state_police
**Category:** Other misconduct
**Sub-category:** false implication fabrication
**Outcome:** Adverse finding + compensation (adverse_finding_compensation)
**Sections:** Constitution of India Article 21; Official Secrets Act 1923 s.3; Official Secrets Act 1923 s.4
**Officers (gated display forms):** Deputy Inspector General, Kerala Police Special Investigation Team; Inspector, Special Branch, Thiruvananthapuram City; Deputy Superintendent of Police, Crime Branch CID, Thiruvananthapuram (3 in record)
**Victims:** Thiruvananthapuram man (1 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** compensation only; Rs 50 lakh (Rs 50,00,000)
**Sentence type:** compensation only (compensation_only)

The judgment of the Supreme Court of India records the following account. ISRO scientist a Thiruvananthapuram man was maliciously arrested and subjected to custodial harassment and defamation by the Kerala Police in the fabricated 1994 ISRO espionage case. The Supreme Court held that the prosecution was initiated without basis and was malicious, causing severe mental agony and violating the appellant's fundamental right to life and liberty under Article 21. The Court awarded interim compensation of Rs. 50 lakhs to be paid by the State of Kerala under public law remedies. In addition, the Court constituted a committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice D.K. Jain to investigate the culpability of erring police officials including \[name withheld\], \[name withheld\], and \[name withheld\]. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> As stated earlier, the entire prosecution initiated by the State police was malicious and it has caused tremendous harassment and immeasurable anguish to the appellant. It is not a case where the accused is kept under custody and, eventually, after trial, he is found not guilty.

**Sources (1):** [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/140150087/)
**Verification:** V2 · Externally reported
**Review:** Solo Staff combined review (one combined attestation) — not yet recorded
**admin category:** misconduct
**admin subcategory:** false_implication_fabrication
**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:** 31
**display title redacted:** Thiruvananthapuram Man vs \[name withheld\] & 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': '2018-09-14', 'action_type': 'Order issued', 'status': 'Concluded', 'authority': 'Supreme Court of India', 'independence': 'External', 'legal_effect': 'Binding', 'description': 'The Supreme Court of India recorded adverse findings against police personnel and ordered Rs 5,000,000.', 'disposition': 'Compensation ordered · Supports allegation (for the compensated wrong only)', 'source': '(2018) 10 SCC 804', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/140150087/', 'link_checked': None}
**retracted:** {"is_retracted": false}
**service:** police
**source assessment:** {"established": null, "basis": null}
**status:** current
**subcategory display:** false implication fabrication
**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:** Supreme Court held ISRO espionage prosecution malicious, awarded Rs. 50 lakh compensation to scientist a Thiruvananthapuram man and constituted Justice D.K. Jain Committee.
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Adverse finding + compensation.

[Open CW-2018-0013](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2018-0013)