# Pravat Chandra Mohanty vs The State Of Odisha (with Pratap Kumar Choudhury vs State Of Odisha)

HTML version: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2021-0003](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2021-0003)

## Report card

By judgment dated 11 February 2021 in Criminal Appeal Nos. 125-126 of 2021, the Supreme Court of India (Coram: Ashok Bhushan, Ajay Rastogi, JJ.) affirmed the conviction of 2 police personnel, namely: Pravat Chandra Mohanty (Inspector); Pratap Kumar Choudhury (Sub-Inspector), and directed payment of compensation of Rs 10 lakh (Rs 10,00,000).

- Register number: OD 05 CW 0006
- Case reference: Criminal Appeal Nos. 125-126 of 2021 / (2021) 3 SCC 529
- Court and date: Supreme Court of India (Coram: Ashok Bhushan, Ajay Rastogi, JJ.), 11 February 2021
- Officer(s) at the material time: Pravat Chandra Mohanty (Inspector); Pratap Kumar Choudhury (Sub-Inspector)
- Present service status: Not ascertained from the cited sources.
- Provisions invoked: Section 324 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860; Section 323 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860; Section 471 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860; Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860
- Finding of the Court (extract): “The custodial violence on the deceased which led to the death is abhorrent and not acceptable in the civilized society. The offence committed by the accused is crime not against the deceased alone but was against humanity and clear violations …” (at para 40)
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Conviction upheld. Sentence: imprisonment and fine; maximum substantive term of 0.5 years. Compensation: Rs 10 lakh (Rs 10,00,000).
- 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/165413021/); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2021-0003)

**Record:** CW-2021-0003 (compiler id CWC-0282); case SWCUSTOD-009
**Title:** Pravat Chandra Mohanty vs The State Of Odisha (with Pratap Kumar Choudhury vs State Of Odisha)
**Court:** Supreme Court of India; judges: Ashok Bhushan; Ajay Rastogi
**Case number / citation:** Criminal Appeal Nos. 125-126 of 2021 / (2021) 3 SCC 529
**Judgment:** 2021-02-11 (2021, day precision)
**Incident date:** 1985-05-04 (1985)
**Place:** Cuttack, Odisha; city town: Cuttack; police station or unit: Purighat Police Station, Cuttack; force: state_police
**Category:** Violence & unlawful detention
**Sub-category:** custodial death
**Outcome:** Conviction upheld (conviction_upheld)
**Sections:** IPC 324; IPC 323; IPC 471; IPC 34
**Officers (gated display forms):** Pravat Chandra Mohanty (Inspector); Pratap Kumar Choudhury (Sub-Inspector) (2 in record)
**Victims:** Cuttack man (1 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** mixed; max 0.5 yrs; Rs 10 lakh (Rs 10,00,000)
**Sentence type:** mixed (mixed)

The judgment of the Supreme Court of India records the following account. On the night of 04/05-05-1985 a Cuttack man was called to Purighat PS, Cuttack, and beaten through the night with lathi/batten by Inspector and SI, dying in hospital; police fabricated an FIR with his forged signature to cover up. The trial court convicted both of culpable homicide (Section 304-II); the High Court acquitted of 304-II but convicted under Sections 324/323/471 read with 34 IPC with one year's SI plus Rs 3 lakh compensation. The Supreme Court affirmed the Section 324 conviction, refusing compounding since custodial violence is a crime against humanity and Article 21 violation. Given the appellants' 75+ age, it cut imprisonment to six months and added Rs 3.5 lakh each as compensation to the legal heirs. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> The custodial violence on the deceased which led to the death is abhorrent and not acceptable in the civilized society. The offence committed by the accused is crime not against the deceased alone but was against humanity and clear violations of rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

**Sources (4):** [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/165413021/); [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/162192708/); [livelaw.in](https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/custodial-violence-supreme-court-police-officers-compounding-169773); [barandbench.com](https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/custodial-violence-abhorrent-unacceptable-crime-against-humanity-supreme-court)
**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:** 40
**display title redacted:** Pravat Chandra Mohanty vs The State Of Odisha (with Pratap Kumar Choudhury vs State Of Odisha)
**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 Supreme Court of India judgment)', 'independence': 'External', 'legal_effect': 'Binding', 'description': 'The trial court convicted the accused police personnel, as recorded in the Supreme Court of India judgment.', 'disposition': 'Conviction · Supports allegation', 'source': '(2021) 3 SCC 529', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}; {'date': '2021-02-11', 'action_type': 'Order issued', 'status': 'Concluded', 'authority': 'Supreme Court of India', 'independence': 'External', 'legal_effect': 'Binding', 'description': 'The Supreme Court of India dismissed the appeal and upheld the convictions of police personnel.', 'disposition': 'Conviction · Supports allegation (appellate affirmance; trial conviction separate card)', 'source': '(2021) 3 SCC 529', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/165413021/', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/162192708/', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/custodial-violence-supreme-court-police-officers-compounding-169773', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/custodial-violence-abhorrent-unacceptable-crime-against-humanity-supreme-court', '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:** Supreme Court upheld s.324 IPC conviction of 2 Purighat officers; 1yr->6mo + Rs 3.5L each over HC's Rs 3L.
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Conviction upheld.

[Open CW-2021-0003](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2021-0003)