In Brief

Two police officers (a police station in-charge and senior inspector) were convicted of causing hurt by dangerous weapons (Section 324 IPC) and forgery (Section 471 IPC) following the death of a man after he was severely beaten in their police station in 1985. The High Court had reduced their sentence from eight and five years imprisonment respectively to one year under Section 324 IPC. They sought further relief through compensation and reduction of sentence. The Supreme Court rejected their request to compound the offence under Section 324, holding that custodial violence by police is a serious matter affecting public confidence in justice. However, it reduced the sentence from one year to six months as the appellants were now over 75 years old and had agreed to pay enhanced compensation of Rs. 3.5 lakhs each to the deceased's legal heirs, in addition to the High Court's awarded Rs. 3 lakhs.

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