# Guwahati Man vs The State of Assam and 3 Ors

HTML version: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2023-0032](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2023-0032)

## Report card

By judgment dated 20 December 2023 in WP(C)/2783/2021, the Gauhati High Court (Coram: Devashis Baruah, J.) returned findings adverse to the Sub-Inspector, Panbazar Police Station, Guwahati, and directed payment of compensation of Rs 5 lakh (Rs 5,00,000).

- Register number: AS 25 CW 0007
- Case reference: WP(C)/2783/2021 / 2023 SCC OnLine Gau 4244
- Court and date: Gauhati High Court (Coram: Devashis Baruah, J.), 20 December 2023
- Officer(s) at the material time: Sub-Inspector, Panbazar Police Station, Guwahati
- Present service status: Not ascertained from the cited sources.
- Provisions invoked: Not stated in the cited sources
- Finding of the Court (extract): “Be that as it may, the Petitioner is an Advocate and handcuffing the Petitioner and parading him by taking him to the Court and thereafter back to the jail with iron fetters that too without just cause being shown, not …” (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.verdictum.in/pdf_upload/display-5watermark-1571986.pdf); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2023-0032)

**Record:** CW-2023-0032 (compiler id CWC-0027); case ASSAM-013; aliases: CWC-0870; CWC-1430
**Title:** Guwahati Man vs The State of Assam and 3 Ors
**Court:** Gauhati High Court; judges: Devashis Baruah
**Case number / citation:** WP(C)/2783/2021 / 2023 SCC OnLine Gau 4244
**Judgment:** 2023-12-20 (2023, day precision)
**Incident date:** 2016-10-05 (2016)
**Place:** Kamrup Metropolitan, Assam; city town: Guwahati; police station or unit: Panbazar Police Station, Guwahati; force: state_police
**Category:** Violence & unlawful detention
**Sub-category:** disproportionate force
**Outcome:** Adverse finding + compensation (adverse_finding_compensation)
**Officers (gated display forms):** Sub-Inspector, Panbazar Police Station, Guwahati (1 in record)
**Victims:** Guwahati man (1 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** compensation only; Rs 5 lakh (Rs 5,00,000)
**Sentence type:** compensation only (compensation_only)

The Gauhati High Court held that the handcuffing and parading of advocate a Guwahati man, without just cause being shown, violated his human rights under Article 21 and demeaned his dignity to practise his profession. Called to Panbazar Police Station on 5 October 2016, he was detained, arrested in PS Case No. 435/2016, handcuffed for a hospital examination and paraded in iron fetters from the court to Central Jail Guwahati, in breach of the Supreme Court's guidelines. The Court noted that the Assam Human Rights Commission had closed his complaint only because the charged officer had died. Applying strict liability, the Court directed the authorities to pay him Rs 5,00,000 within two months and recommended amending the Assam Police Manual on handcuffing. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> Be that as it may, the Petitioner is an Advocate and handcuffing the Petitioner and parading him by taking him to the Court and thereafter back to the jail with iron fetters that too without just cause being shown, not only violates the human rights of the Petitioner guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution but also demeans his dignity and prestige to carry out his profession of advocacy.

**Sources (7):** [verdictum.in](https://www.verdictum.in/pdf_upload/display-5watermark-1571986.pdf); [livelaw.in](https://www.livelaw.in/high-court/gauhati-high-court/gauhati-high-court-orders-assam-police-pay-compensation-advocate-unjust-handcuffing-article-21-constitution-of-india-245139); [lawbeat.in](https://lawbeat.in/sites/default/files/2023-12/Handcuffing%20Adv-%20Gauhati%20HC.pdf); [lawbeat.in](https://lawbeat.in/amp/news-updates/gauhati-high-court-orders-police-pay-rs-5-lakh-compensation-advocate-handcuffing-without-just-cause); [scconline.com](https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/2024/01/03/state-compensation-liability-advocate-handcuffing-just-cause-gauhati-hc-legal-news/); [verdictum.in](https://www.verdictum.in/court-updates/high-courts/gauhati-high-court-orders-500000-compensation-for-unjust-handcuffing-of-advocate-by-assam-police-1511018); [livelaw.in](https://www.livelaw.in/pdf_upload/gau-hc-grants-compensation-for-handcuffing-511527.pdf)
**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:** 29
**display title redacted:** Guwahati Man vs The State of Assam and 3 Ors
**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': \[\]}; {'date': '2026-09-25', 'scope': 'Audit fix: duplicate record CW-2023-0055 (same court, case number and judgment date) merged into this record; its sources are kept here and its URL redirects here.'}
**followup status:** checked
**institutional response:** {'date': '2023-12-20', 'action_type': 'Order issued', 'status': 'Concluded', 'authority': 'Gauhati High Court', 'independence': 'External', 'legal_effect': 'Binding', 'description': 'The Gauhati High Court recorded adverse findings against police personnel and ordered Rs 500,000.', 'disposition': 'Compensation ordered · Supports allegation (for the compensated wrong only)', 'source': '2023 SCC OnLine Gau 4244', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-25
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://www.verdictum.in/pdf_upload/display-5watermark-1571986.pdf', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://www.livelaw.in/high-court/gauhati-high-court/gauhati-high-court-orders-assam-police-pay-compensation-advocate-unjust-handcuffing-article-21-constitution-of-india-245139', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://lawbeat.in/sites/default/files/2023-12/Handcuffing%20Adv-%20Gauhati%20HC.pdf', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://lawbeat.in/amp/news-updates/gauhati-high-court-orders-police-pay-rs-5-lakh-compensation-advocate-handcuffing-without-just-cause', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/2024/01/03/state-compensation-liability-advocate-handcuffing-just-cause-gauhati-hc-legal-news/', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://www.verdictum.in/court-updates/high-courts/gauhati-high-court-orders-500000-compensation-for-unjust-handcuffing-of-advocate-by-assam-police-1511018', '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:** Unjust handcuffing/parading of advocate; Rs 5L verified from judgment PDF.
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Adverse finding + compensation.

[Open CW-2023-0032](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2023-0032)