# Kokrajhar Man vs The Union of India and 7 Ors

HTML version: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2026-0002](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2026-0002)

## Report card

By judgment dated 8 January 2026 in WP(C)/1098/2017, the Gauhati High Court (Coram: Kalyan Rai Surana, Rajesh Mazumdar, JJ.) returned findings adverse to the accused police personnel, and directed payment of compensation of Rs 25 lakh (Rs 25,00,000).

- Register number: AS 16 CW 0002
- Case reference: WP(C)/1098/2017 / 2026:GAU-AS:418-DB
- Court and date: Gauhati High Court (Coram: Kalyan Rai Surana, Rajesh Mazumdar, JJ.), 8 January 2026
- Officer(s) at the material time: Not identified in the cited sources (Joint Assam Police-Army (7th Sikh LI) ambush party, Bismuri/Kokrajhar)
- 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
- Finding of the Court (extract): “The laxity displayed while acting on the intelligence inputs and the sudden and hurried decision to lay an undocumented ambush played a vital role in creating a situation which led to exchange of fire between the deceased and the police, …” (at para 33)
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Adverse finding + compensation. Sentence: compensation only. Compensation: Rs 25 lakh (Rs 25,00,000).
- Present status of the proceedings: The judgment is recent and may be subject to appeal; the pendency of an appeal is not a finding.
- Source orders: [Judgment / order (primary source)](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/120284705/); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2026-0002)

**Record:** CW-2026-0002 (compiler id CWC-0032); case ASSAM-019; aliases: CWC-1437
**Title:** Kokrajhar Man vs The Union of India and 7 Ors
**Court:** Gauhati High Court; judges: Kalyan Rai Surana; Rajesh Mazumdar
**Case number / citation:** WP(C)/1098/2017 / 2026:GAU-AS:418-DB
**Judgment:** 2026-01-08 (2026, day precision)
**Incident date:** 2016-12-28 (2016)
**Place:** Kokrajhar, Assam; police station or unit: Joint Assam Police-Army (7th Sikh LI) ambush party, Bismuri/Kokrajhar; force: state_police
**Category:** Violence & unlawful detention
**Sub-category:** fake encounter extrajudicial killing
**Outcome:** Adverse finding + compensation (adverse_finding_compensation)
**Sections:** Constitution of India Art. 21; Constitution of India Art. 226
**Officers (gated display forms):** None named (1 in record)
**Victims:** Kokrajhar man (1 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** compensation only; Rs 25 lakh (Rs 25,00,000)
**Sentence type:** compensation only (compensation_only)

The Gauhati High Court held that the killing of cultivator a Kokrajhar man in a joint police-Army ambush near Bismuri outpost on 28 December 2016 was an avoidable encounter infringing Article 21. While stopping short of calling the ambush staged, the Court found laxity on intelligence inputs and a sudden, hurried, undocumented ambush that created the exchange of fire in which the deceased was shot. As palliative relief, without prejudice to other remedies, it directed the Union of India and the State of Assam to pay Rs 5,00,000 each to the widow (Rs 10,00,000) and Rs 2,50,000 each to every surviving child (Rs 5,00,000 per child), within one month. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> The laxity displayed while acting on the intelligence inputs and the sudden and hurried decision to lay an undocumented ambush played a vital role in creating a situation which led to exchange of fire between the deceased and the police, leading to his death. We stop short of concluding that the ambush was laid to achieve predicted outcomes.

**Sources (3):** [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/120284705/); [livelaw.in](https://www.livelaw.in/pdf_upload/display-20-653766.pdf); [livelaw.in](https://www.livelaw.in/high-court/gauhati-high-court/gauhati-high-court-grants-25-lakh-compensation-family-man-killed-during-police-operation-521769)
**Verification:** V2 · Externally reported
**Review:** Solo Staff combined review (one combined attestation) — not yet recorded
**admin category:** brutality
**admin subcategory:** fake_encounter_extrajudicial_killing
**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:** 33
**display title redacted:** Kokrajhar Man vs The Union of India and 7 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': \[\]}
**followup status:** checked
**institutional response:** {'date': '2026-01-08', '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 2,500,000.', 'disposition': 'Compensation ordered · Supports allegation (for the compensated wrong only)', 'source': '2026:GAU-AS:418-DB', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/120284705/', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://www.livelaw.in/pdf_upload/display-20-653766.pdf', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://www.livelaw.in/high-court/gauhati-high-court/gauhati-high-court-grants-25-lakh-compensation-family-man-killed-during-police-operation-521769', 'link_checked': None}
**retracted:** {"is_retracted": false}
**service:** police
**source assessment:** {"established": null, "basis": null}
**status:** current
**subcategory display:** fake encounter extrajudicial killing
**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:** Avoidable encounter violated Art 21; Rs 25L total (agent missed widow's 10L).
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Adverse finding + compensation.

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