Kalpana Tiwari and children with husband Vivek Tiwari (38)
LUCKNOW: Nearly eight years after Apple area sales manager Vivek Tiwari (38) was shot dead by a police constable in Lucknow, a sessions court on Monday sentenced constable Prashant Kumar Chaudhary to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. He was arrested on September 29, 2018, and had remained in jail since then, completing nearly eight years in custody by the time of the sentencing hearing.
The family of Apple executive Vivek Tiwari, who was shot dead by police constable Prashant Kumar Chaudhary in Lucknow in September 2018, has termed the court verdict “injustice” and said it will challenge both Chaudhary’s 10-year sentence and the acquittal of co-accused constable Sandeep Kumar. “This is injustice and no justice for us,” Kalpana said, questioning how a trained police constable could have made a mistake while firing his service weapon. Joshi submitted that Chaudhary had no previous criminal history and had never been convicted by any court. She maintained that the family considered the incident a clear case of murder.
On the other hand, counsel for Vivek’s family, Pranshu Agarwal, told TOI that they would file a criminal appeal in the High Court. Pranshu Agarwal, appearing for Vivek Tiwari’s family, argued that the circumstances warranted the maximum punishment and relied on Supreme Court judgments. Chaudhary’s counsel, Mukul Joshi, meanwhile, urged the court to consider the period he had already spent in custody.
Court Sentences Chaudhary to 10 Years in Prison
On Monday, the court sentenced Chaudhary to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment following the conclusion of his trial. In addition to the prison term, a fine of Rs 20,000 was imposed. If he fails to pay the fine, he will face an additional two months in prison. The court also ordered that the time Chaudhary has already spent in custody during the investigation and trial will be deducted from his sentence.