# Namakkal Man v. The Secretary, Public (L&O-A) Dept.

HTML version: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2021-0004](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2021-0004)

## Report card

By judgment dated 26 February 2021 in W.P. No. 9540 of 2009, the Madras High Court (Coram: Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, J.) returned findings adverse to 4 police personnel, namely: Sub-Inspector, Namakkal PS; Constable, Namakkal PS; Constable, Namakkal PS; Constable, Namakkal PS, and directed payment of compensation of Rs 3 lakh (Rs 3,00,000).

- Register number: TN 28 CW 0004
- Case reference: W.P. No. 9540 of 2009
- Court and date: Madras High Court (Coram: Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, J.), 26 February 2021
- Officer(s) at the material time: Sub-Inspector, Namakkal PS; Constable, Namakkal PS; Constable, Namakkal PS; Constable, Namakkal PS
- Present service status: Not ascertained from the cited sources.
- Provisions invoked: Article 226 of the Constitution of India
- Finding of the Court (extract): “The responsibility of the Government and its officials for the tragic death of the Petitioner's son has been established beyond reasonable doubt in this case. Indeed, it is the admitted position that the Petitioner's son died while in custody at …” (at para 6)
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Adverse finding + compensation. Sentence: compensation only. Compensation: Rs 3 lakh (Rs 3,00,000).
- 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/120376931/); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2021-0004)

**Record:** CW-2021-0004 (compiler id CWC-0464); case SWCUSTOD-040
**Title:** Namakkal Man v. The Secretary, Public (L&O-A) Dept.
**Court:** Madras High Court; judges: Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy
**Case number / citation:** W.P. No. 9540 of 2009
**Judgment:** 2021-02-26 (2021, day precision)
**Incident date:** 1995-06-21 (1995)
**Place:** Namakkal, Tamil Nadu; city town: Namakkal; police station or unit: Namakkal PS; force: state_police
**Category:** Violence & unlawful detention
**Sub-category:** custodial death
**Outcome:** Adverse finding + compensation (adverse_finding_compensation)
**Sections:** Constitution Art. 226
**Officers (gated display forms):** Sub-Inspector, Namakkal PS; Constable, Namakkal PS; Constable, Namakkal PS; Constable, Namakkal PS (4 in record)
**Victims:** Namakkal man, age 19 (1 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** compensation only; Rs 3 lakh (Rs 3,00,000)
**Sentence type:** compensation only (compensation_only)

The Madras High Court allowed the writ and ordered Rs 3 lakh additional compensation to the mother of 19-year-old a Namakkal man, tortured to death at Namakkal police station on 21 June 1995. The Court held the Rs 50,000 paid in 1996 was mere ex-gratia since police culpability was then unestablished, whereas guilt now stood established beyond reasonable doubt through the SDM enquiry and the life-term convictions of the Sub-Inspector and three constables. It treated State liability as the logical corollary of the established custodial death. Default interest of 9% was ordered. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> The responsibility of the Government and its officials for the tragic death of the Petitioner's son has been established beyond reasonable doubt in this case. Indeed, it is the admitted position that the Petitioner's son died while in custody at the Namakkal Police station and that such death was caused by the convicted police officials.

**Sources (1):** [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/120376931/)
**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:** 6
**display title redacted:** Namakkal Man v. The Secretary, Public (L&O-A) Dept.
**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': '2021-02-26', 'action_type': 'Order issued', 'status': 'Concluded', 'authority': 'Madras High Court', 'independence': 'External', 'legal_effect': 'Binding', 'description': 'The Madras High Court recorded adverse findings against police personnel and ordered Rs 300,000.', 'disposition': 'Compensation ordered · Supports allegation (for the compensated wrong only)', 'source': 'W.P. No. 9540 of 2009', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/120376931/', '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:** HC allowed writ; Rs 3L additional compensation for established custodial death.
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Adverse finding + compensation.

[Open CW-2021-0004](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2021-0004)