# Dhenkanal Man and Another vs State Of Odisha & Others

HTML version: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2021-0002](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2021-0002)

## Report card

By judgment dated 27 January 2021 in W.P.(C) No. 13774 of 2005, the Orissa High Court (Coram: S. Muralidhar, Biswajit Mohanty, JJ.) returned findings adverse to 2 police personnel, namely: Inspector-in-Charge, Dhenkanal Town Police Station; Sub-Inspector, Dhenkanal Town Police Station, and directed payment of compensation of Rs 5 lakh (Rs 5,00,000).

- Register number: OD 06 CW 0001
- Case reference: W.P.(C) No. 13774 of 2005 / 2021 LiveLaw (Ori) 13
- Court and date: Orissa High Court (Coram: S. Muralidhar, Biswajit Mohanty, JJ.), 27 January 2021
- Officer(s) at the material time: Inspector-in-Charge, Dhenkanal Town Police Station; Sub-Inspector, Dhenkanal Town Police Station
- 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; Article 227 of the Constitution of India
- Finding of the Court (extract): “Even if it is not established that the ante mortem injuries found on his person during post-mortem were caused by the Police, the law of strict liability for the negligence of the police in not meeting the basic minimum standard …” (at para 29)
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Adverse finding + compensation. Sentence: compensation only. Compensation: Rs 5 lakh (Rs 5,00,000).
- 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://www.livelaw.in/pdf_upload/custodial-death-matter-orissa-hc-5-lakh-388448.pdf); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2021-0002)

**Record:** CW-2021-0002 (compiler id CWC-0287); case EAST---NORTHEAST-006; aliases: CWC-0554
**Title:** Dhenkanal Man and Another vs State Of Odisha & Others
**Court:** Orissa High Court; judges: Dr. S. Muralidhar; Biswajit Mohanty
**Case number / citation:** W.P.(C) No. 13774 of 2005 / 2021 LiveLaw (Ori) 13
**Judgment:** 2021-01-27 (2021, day precision)
**Incident date:** 2005-06-07 (2005)
**Place:** Dhenkanal, Odisha; city town: Dhenkanal; police station or unit: Dhenkanal Town Police Station; force: state_police
**Category:** Violence & unlawful detention
**Sub-category:** custodial death
**Outcome:** Adverse finding + compensation (adverse_finding_compensation)
**Sections:** Article 21; Article 226; Article 227
**Officers (gated display forms):** Inspector-in-Charge, Dhenkanal Town Police Station; Sub-Inspector, Dhenkanal Town Police Station (2 in record)
**Victims:** Dhenkanal man (1 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** compensation only; Rs 5 lakh (Rs 5,00,000)
**Sentence type:** compensation only (compensation_only)

A Dhenkanal man was found writhing in pain inside a Dhenkanal liquor shop and brought into Dhenkanal Town Police Station at 3:20 AM on 7 June 2005. Despite his visibly precarious physical state, police left him unattended on the police station verandah for six hours without arranging medical treatment, and he subsequently succumbed to ante-mortem cranio-cerebral injuries. The Division Bench of the Orissa High Court held that regardless of whether police caused the initial injuries, keeping an injured arrestee in custody for six hours without medical attention constituted gross and fatal negligence attracting strict liability for custodial death under Article 21. The Court directed the State of Odisha to pay Rs. 5,00,000 compensation to the deceased parents. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> Even if it is not established that the ante mortem injuries found on his person during post-mortem were caused by the Police, the law of strict liability for the negligence of the police in not meeting the basic minimum standard of care in providing him prompt medical attention would stand attracted. The police have to be held liable for the avoidable death of a Dhenkanal man, while in their custody, on account of their negligence.

**Sources (3):** [livelaw.in](https://www.livelaw.in/pdf_upload/custodial-death-matter-orissa-hc-5-lakh-388448.pdf); [livelaw.in](https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/death-in-police-custody-orissa-high-court-5-lakh-as-compensation-to-parents-of-deceased-169225); [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/175228761/)
**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
**court quote para:** 29
**display title redacted:** Dhenkanal Man and Another vs State Of Odisha & 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': \['sections'\]}
**followup status:** checked
**institutional response:** {'date': '2021-01-27', '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 500,000.', 'disposition': 'Compensation ordered · Supports allegation (for the compensated wrong only)', 'source': '2021 LiveLaw (Ori) 13', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://www.livelaw.in/pdf_upload/custodial-death-matter-orissa-hc-5-lakh-388448.pdf', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/death-in-police-custody-orissa-high-court-5-lakh-as-compensation-to-parents-of-deceased-169225', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/175228761/', '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:** Orissa HC applied strict liability for custodial death arising from police negligence in delaying medical treatment to critically injured arrestee for six hours, awarding Rs. 5 lakh compensation.
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Adverse finding + compensation.

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