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.Sessions Judge Malkhan Singh of the Lucknow court had on September 17 convicted Chaudhary under Section 304 Part II of the IPC, holding that his act fell within the scope of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The court had acquitted co-accused constable Sandeep Kumar of charges under Section 323 and Section 302 read with Section 114 of the IPC.On Monday, after hearing the accused, the court awarded Chaudhary 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 20,000. In default of payment of the fine, he will have to undergo an additional two months’ imprisonment. The court also directed that the period already spent by him in custody during the investigation, inquiry and trial be set off against the sentence.In its September 17 judgment, the court concluded that the act committed by Chaudhary came within the exceptions to Section 300 of the IPC and was punishable under Part II of Section 304.The court consequently acquitted Sandeep Kumar of the charges under Section 323 and Section 302 read with Section 114 of the IPC, while holding Chaudhary liable for conviction under Section 304 Part II.Sandeep Kumar, who was on bail, was directed to furnish a personal bond of Rs 20,000 along with two sureties of the same amount.DGC (Criminal) Rakesh Pandey argued that Chaudhary had acted in a cruel manner and had caused Tiwari’s death.It was argued that Chaudhary was a trained police officer who had received arms and behavioural training and was, therefore, expected to act responsibly while performing his duties.Pranshu Agarwal, appearing for Vivek Tiwari’s family, argued that the circumstances warranted the maximum punishment and relied on Supreme Court judgments.The court was also referred to the Supreme Court’s observations in Mahesh vs State of Madhya Pradesh concerning the need for courts to impose appropriate punishment based on the nature and manner of the offence.Chaudhary’s counsel, Mukul Joshi, meanwhile, urged the court to consider the period he had already spent in custody.According to the order, Chaudhary is around 36 years old. His father is about 65 and his mother about 60, while his 22-year-old younger brother, who is unmarried, lives with his parents.Joshi also told the court that Chaudhary’s marriage ended in divorce in 2023 while the case was pending.Joshi submitted that Chaudhary had no previous criminal history and had never been convicted by any court. 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.After considering the submissions from both sides, the sessions court sentenced Chaudhary to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment under Section 304 Part II of the IPC.To recall, Vivek was on his way to drop his former colleague, Sana Siddiqui, home in his SUV around 1.30 am on September 29, 2018, when the two bike-borne policemen signalled him to stop.As Sana lowered the window pane to enquire about the reason, Sandeep allegedly hit her with a baton. Vivek did not stop and kept driving. Prashant then took out his service pistol and fired at Vivek.After the bullet struck Vivek, he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a divider. While the two policemen fled, Sana sought help from the police control room and took Vivek to a hospital, where he died during treatment.Two FIRs were lodged in the case — one against two unidentified policemen by Sana and, the following day, another against the two named policemen by Vivek’s wife, Kalpana. The chargesheet against them was filed on December 19, 2018.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.Kalpana said the family considered the judgment incomplete and would pursue legal remedies against both aspects of the order.“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. 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.“We will challenge the acquittal of Sandeep and also the sentence awarded to Prashant Chaudhary,” Agarwal said.
