# State of Tamil Nadu v. \[name withheld\] (Custodial Death of a Minor)

HTML version: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2026-0062](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2026-0062)

## Report card

By judgment dated 7 January 2026 in W.A.(MD) No. 823 of 2024, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court (Coram: G. Jayachandran, K.K. Ramakrishnan, JJ.) returned findings adverse to 4 police personnel, namely: Inspector, S.S. Colony Police Station; Special Sub-Inspector, S.S. Colony Police Station; Head Constable, S.S. Colony Police Station; Grade I Constable, S.S. Colony Police Station, and directed payment of compensation of Rs 23 lakh (Rs 23,00,000).

- Register number: TN 57 CW 0032
- Case reference: W.A.(MD) No. 823 of 2024 / 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) (unreported)
- Court and date: Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court (Coram: G. Jayachandran, K.K. Ramakrishnan, JJ.), 7 January 2026
- Officer(s) at the material time: Inspector, S.S. Colony Police Station; Special Sub-Inspector, S.S. Colony Police Station; Head Constable, S.S. Colony Police Station; Grade I Constable, S.S. Colony Police Station
- Present service status: Not ascertained from the cited sources.
- Provisions invoked: Article 21, Constitution of India of the Constitution of India; Section 357A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
- Finding of the Court (extract): “This Court is of the view that while paying compensation in the case of a custodial death, we cannot be very strict in applying the formula and though the learned Single Judge has erroneously applied the multiplier '18' instead of …” (at para para 3)
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Adverse finding + compensation. Sentence: compensation only. Compensation: Rs 23 lakh (Rs 23,00,000).
- 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/165886415/); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2026-0062)

**Record:** CW-2026-0062 (compiler id CWC-1325); case cop-tn-hc-1
**Title:** State of Tamil Nadu v. \[name withheld\] (Custodial Death of a Minor)
**Court:** Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court; judges: G. Jayachandran; K.K. Ramakrishnan
**Case number / citation:** W.A.(MD) No. 823 of 2024 / 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) (unreported)
**Judgment:** 2026-01-07 (2026, day precision)
**Incident date:** 2019-01-01 (2019)
**Place:** Madurai, Tamil Nadu; police station or unit: S.S. Colony Police Station; force: state_police
**Category:** Violence & unlawful detention
**Sub-category:** custodial death
**Outcome:** Adverse finding + compensation (adverse_finding_compensation)
**Sections:** Article 21, Constitution of India; Section 357A, CrPC
**Officers (gated display forms):** Inspector, S.S. Colony Police Station; Special Sub-Inspector, S.S. Colony Police Station; Head Constable, S.S. Colony Police Station; Grade I Constable, S.S. Colony Police Station (4 in record)
**Victims:** Madurai man (1 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** compensation only; Rs 23 lakh (Rs 23,00,000)
**Sentence type:** compensation only (compensation_only)

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court modified the compensation awarded by a Single Judge for the custodial death of a 17-year-old boy, \[name withheld\], who died in 2019 after being picked up by S.S. Colony police for an alleged jewellery theft. The Division Bench reduced the multiplier from 18 to 16 but affirmed the principle that compensation in custodial death cases need not strictly follow motor accident formulae. The court directed the State to pay the balance of Rs 18 lakh with 6% interest from September 2024. The Single Judge had found the boy was kept in illegal custody for three days and subjected to torture, with post-mortem revealing 25 ante-mortem injuries.

> This Court is of the view that while paying compensation in the case of a custodial death, we cannot be very strict in applying the formula and though the learned Single Judge has erroneously applied the multiplier '18' instead of '16', we do not want to interfere with the compensation awarded, except to say that even according to the formula adopted by the learned single Judge, the compensation will be only Rs.22,98,000/- and should be rounded off to Rs.23,00,000/-.

**Sources (2):** [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/165886415/); [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/49692536/)
**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:** True
**court quote para:** para 3
**display title redacted:** State of Tamil Nadu v. \[name withheld\] (Custodial Death of a Minor)
**followup history:** {'date': '2026-09-24', 'scope': 'Swarm scout and independent verification pass (Muse Spark).'}
**followup status:** checked
**institutional response:** {'date': '2026-01-07', 'action_type': 'Order issued', 'status': 'Concluded', 'authority': 'Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court', 'independence': 'External', 'legal_effect': 'Binding', 'description': 'The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recorded adverse findings against police personnel.', 'disposition': 'adverse finding compensation', 'source': '2026 LiveLaw (Mad) (unreported)', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-24
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/165886415/', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://indiankanoon.org/doc/49692536/', '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:** Victim is a minor (17 years old) and his name '\[name withheld\]' appears in victims\[0\].name and in the case_title; per register rules minors must not be named - redact.; The judgment itself (Indian Kanoon 165886415) never names the deceased - it refers only to 'the writ petitioner's son'; the name '\[name withheld\]' is unverified.; incident_date 2019-01-01 is an unverified placeholder; the source only establishes the death was in 2019.; Everything else verified: W.A.(MD) No. 823 of 2024, Madurai Bench (G. Jayachandran & K.K. Ramakrishnan), decided 07.01.2026, S.S. Colony PS Madurai; Single Judge Rs 25 lakh reduced to Rs 23,00,000 (22,98,000 rounded), balance Rs 18 lakh with 6% interest from 27.09.2024; quote verbatim (para 3); adverse finding against police for custodial death of a 17-year-old.
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Adverse finding + compensation.

[Open CW-2026-0062](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2026-0062)