Warrant being badly severed (7)
I believe the answer is:
deserve
'warrant' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'badly severed' is the wordplay.
'badly' indicates an anagram.
'severed' is an anagram of 'DESERVE'.
'being' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for deserve that I've seen before include "Merit (something)" , "Be worth" , "rate" , "Warrant" , "Justify" .)