CW-1992-0009West Tripura, TripuraJudgment 10 January 1992

Agartala Man vs State of Tripura

The Gauhati High Court allowed the first appeal of Ranubala Sutradhar and set aside the trial court's dismissal of her damages suit. The court recorded that her 18-year-old son [name withheld], arrested for theft on the night of 25.04.1976, was found dead in the Kotwali (Agartala) lock-up on the morning of 26.04.1976. It held the death in custody was attributable to the gross negligence of the Kotwali police officials and that Kasturilal's sovereign-immunity defence could not defeat a damages claim for an Article 21 violation. The suit was decreed for Rs 1 lakh with costs throughout, payable within two months, with 15% p.a. interest on default. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

Externally reportedV2
What this record means

This page documents a court-adjudicated case from the judgment and cited sources below. Findings are attributed to the court; this record does not add findings of its own.

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Report card

By judgment dated 10 January 1992 in F.A. No. 5 of 1983 (from Money Suit No. 6 of 1978), the Gauhati High Court (Coram: S.K. Homchaudhuri, N.G. Das, JJ.) returned findings adverse to the Police personnel, Kotwali Police Station, Agartala, and directed payment of compensation of Rs 1 lakh (Rs 1,00,000).

Register number
TR 01 CW 0001
Case reference
F.A. No. 5 of 1983 (from Money Suit No. 6 of 1978) / 1993 (2) GLR 214; 1994 ACJ 858
Court and date
Gauhati High Court (Coram: S.K. Homchaudhuri, N.G. Das, JJ.), 10 January 1992
Officer(s) at the material time
Police personnel, Kotwali Police Station, Agartala
Present service status
Not ascertained from the cited sources.
Provisions invoked
Section 379 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860; Article 21 of the Constitution of India; Article 300 of the Constitution of India
Finding of the Court (extract)
“In the instant case the claim for damages has arisen due to deprivation of life of the son of the plaintiff in the police custody due to gross negligence of the State machinery and the deceased has been deprived of …” (at para 8)
Verdict, sentence and quantum
Adverse finding + compensation. Sentence: compensation only. Compensation: Rs 1 lakh (Rs 1,00,000).
Present status of the proceedings
No further proceedings are recorded in the cited sources; the judgment is the concluded position shown.

Compiled from the judgment and the cited sources. Findings are those of the court; this card adds none of its own.

The Gauhati High Court judgment dated 10 January 1992 is the concluded position shown in the cited sources.

Recorded allegations

1
Custodial deathPrimary
Material fact supported

Reliable material supports a specifically documented fact relevant to that allegation, not necessarily the full allegation, causation, intent, unlawfulness, or responsibility.

Official finding: supports allegation.

What the court found

Holding not recorded separately.

“In the instant case the claim for damages has arisen due to deprivation of life of the son of the plaintiff in the police custody due to gross negligence of the State machinery and the deceased has been deprived of …” (para 8)

Institutional response

1
10 Jan 1992

Order issued

Concluded
Gauhati High Court External · Binding

The Gauhati High Court recorded adverse findings against police personnel and ordered Rs 100,000.

Compensation ordered · Supports allegation (for the compensated wrong only).
Source: 1993 (2) GLR 214; 1994 ACJ 858
Not yet re-checked.

Follow-up history

1
19 Sep 2026

(Round-8 full re-verification: published record re-checked against the judgment text (outcome, officers, quote, key facts) plus methodology-compliance pass; skills-guided adversarial re-verification of the published record against the judgment text (reverify/t1-*/adversarial-8.jsonl))

Corrections (0): No corrections recorded.

Review: Solo Staff combined review (one combined attestation) — not yet recorded.

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