# State v. Thoothukudi Police Deputy Superintendent of Police (Inspector at time) and others (custodial death, Thalamuthu Nagar PS, 1999)

HTML version: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/trial-court/t2-17-012](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/trial-court/t2-17-012)
Record JSON: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/data/case/t2-17-012.json](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/data/case/t2-17-012.json)

Trial-court conviction (Additional Sessions Court, Thoothukudi district; Sessions Court). Convicted 5 April 2025. Appeal status: Appeal pending.

## Summary

The Thoothukudi Additional Sessions Court sentenced nine police personnel, including a DSP who was inspector at the time, to life imprisonment for the 1999 custodial death of a man at Thalamuthu Nagar police station, acquitting two of eleven accused. The verdict came 26 years after the death, which an RDO enquiry in October 1999 had examined. The case was tried as Sessions Case No. 223 of 2006 under Section 302 IPC. In November 2025 the Supreme Court suspended the life sentence of one convict, a police officer at the time, pending his appeal in the Madras High Court.

## Report card

By judgment dated 5 April 2025, the Additional Sessions Court, Thoothukudi district convicted 2 police personnel, namely: Deputy Superintendent of Police (Inspector at time), Thalamuthu Nagar Police Station, Thoothukudi; various, Thalamuthu Nagar Police Station, Thoothukudi.

- Register number: TN 69 CW 0010
- Case reference: Sessions Case No. 223 of 2006
- Court and date: The Additional Sessions Court, Thoothukudi district, 5 April 2025
- Officer(s) at the material time: Deputy Superintendent of Police (Inspector at time), Thalamuthu Nagar Police Station, Thoothukudi; various, Thalamuthu Nagar Police Station, Thoothukudi
- Present service status: Not ascertained from the cited sources.
- Provisions invoked: Section (sections not specified in accessed reports) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860
- Facts in brief: The Thoothukudi Additional Sessions Court sentenced nine police personnel, including a DSP who was inspector at the time, to life imprisonment for the 1999 custodial death of a man at Thalamuthu Nagar police station, acquitting two of eleven accused. The verdict came 26 years after the death, which an RDO enquiry in October 1999 had examined. The case was tried as Sessions Case No. 223 of 2006 under Section 302 IPC. In November 2025 the Supreme Court suspended the life sentence of one convict, a police officer at the time, pending his appeal in the Madras High Court.
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Conviction recorded by the trial court. Sentence: Life imprisonment to 9 convicts; 2 of 11 accused acquitted
- Present status of the proceedings: An appeal is pending; the pendency of an appeal is not a finding.
- Source orders: [Judgment / order (primary source)](https://lawbeat.in/pdf_upload/s-ramakrishnan-vs-revenue-divisional-officer-thoothukudi-district-tamil-nadu-2096722.pdf); [Appellate judgment](https://lawbeat.in/supreme-court-judgments/sc-suspends-life-term-in-1999-custodial-death-case-flags-conflicting-evidence-1543923); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/trial-court/t2-17-012)

## At a glance

- Category: Violence & unlawful detention
- Sub-category: custodial death
- Location: Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu
- Officers: Deputy Superintendent of Police (Inspector at time), Thalamuthu Nagar Police Station, Thoothukudi; various, Thalamuthu Nagar Police Station, Thoothukudi
- Sentence: Life imprisonment to 9 convicts; 2 of 11 accused acquitted
- Verification: V1 · Trial court