A district and sessions court in Lucknow is set to deliver its verdict on Thursday in the case involving the 2018 shooting death of Apple executive Vivek Tiwari by a police constable.
District and Sessions Judge Malkhan Singh is scheduled to pronounce the judgment in Sessions Trial No. 49 of 2019, titled State vs Prashant Kumar Chaudhary, at Gomti Nagar police station. The case involves charges under Sections 302 and 323 of the Indian Penal Code.
Tiwari, 38, was shot in the early hours of September 30, 2018, while returning home in his SUV after attending a party. He was accompanied by his former colleague, Sana Siddiqui, who later became a key witness in the case.
According to the prosecution, constables Prashant Kumar Chaudhary and Sandeep Kumar were patrolling on a motorcycle near the Makdoompur police outpost in Gomti Nagar Extension when they signalled Tiwari to stop.
The prosecution alleged that Tiwari did not stop immediately, following which the policemen chased his vehicle. During the chase, Chaudhary allegedly fired at the SUV. The bullet struck Tiwari, after which his vehicle collided with a divider.
Tiwari was taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead.
The incident triggered widespread public outrage and renewed discussions about police use of force and accountability. Chaudhary and Kumar were subsequently arrested, and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed to investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
In its findings, the SIT concluded that Chaudhary had intentionally killed Tiwari and held Kumar responsible for voluntarily causing hurt to Sana Siddiqui.
The trial continued for several years as the court examined witnesses and recorded evidence. Sana gave her statement before the court on April 4, 2019, while Tiwari’s wife, Kalpana Tiwari, recorded her statement on November 2 of the same year.
Other witnesses included head constable Rajesh Kumar, who appeared before the court in November 2019, and doctors Jitendra K Srivastava and Ram Prakash Dwivedi, who conducted Tiwari’s post-mortem and Sana’s medical examination.
The then city magistrate Salil K Patel also appeared as a witness in February 2020.
Several years later, the investigation and trial continued with additional witnesses. Sub-inspector Kushal Kumar Tiwari recorded his statement in December 2022. Investigating officer Vivek Pandey, then station officer of Gomti Nagar, was examined between February and October 2024.
By early 2025, the prosecution and defence had completed the examination of witnesses, after which the proceedings moved towards final arguments. The remaining submissions were taken up before the district and sessions court.
Meanwhile, the proceedings against co-accused Sandeep Kumar are being conducted separately. While Chaudhary is facing trial before the district judge’s court, Kumar’s case is proceeding on a separate track.
Kalpana Tiwari’s lawyer, advocate Pranshu Agarwal, confirmed that the verdict in the main case was scheduled for September 17.
The case has remained closely watched since the 2018 incident because of the questions it raised about the use of firearms by police officers during routine patrols. The court’s verdict will determine the outcome of the trial against Chaudhary based on the evidence and arguments presented before it.
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