Vivek Tewari murder case: First defence witness skips court date, again

Court gives defence in Vivek Tewari murder case another chance to present witness on Feb 17, after multiple no-shows. Prosecution has completed its case.

The trial court in the Apple executive Vivek Tewari murder case gave another chance to the defence to produce its first witness on the next hearing on February 17 after he did not appear before the court to record his statement on Monday.

On September 30, 2018, Vivek Tewari, a resident of New Hyderabad Colony in Lucknow, was driving his colleague Sana to her house after a late-night office meeting when he was allegedly shot dead by two policemen. (File)

This was the second time that the defence witness did not turn up in court to record his statement. Before, the defence had to produce its first witness out of three in court on January 30.

The hearing is going on in the court of additional district hudge (1) Narendra Kumar, and

the trial has reached the final stage. Now, the defence has to produce all its three witnesses in court to record statements.

“The prosecution has presented all eight witnesses in court. Examination of prime accused constable Prashant Chaudhary is also over. Now, the defence has to produce its three witnesses in court. However, in the two hearings (January 30 and February 10), no one appeared,” said advocate Manoj Tripathi, the district government counsel (criminal).

“Today, the court has given one more chance to the defence to produce its witness in court on the next hearing on February 17,” added Tripathi.

“We are trying to complete the court proceedings at the earliest and ensure justice to the kin of the deceased,” said Tripathi.

The case

On September 30, 2018, Vivek Tewari, a resident of New Hyderabad Colony here, was driving his colleague Sana to her house after a late-night office meeting.

When they reached near Makdoompur police outpost in Gomti Nagar Extension around 1.30 am, two motorcycle-borne constables Prashant Chaudhary and Sandeep Kumar signaled them to stop.

When Sana rolled down the car’s window to enquire, Sandeep hit her with a baton.

Sensing trouble, Vivek did not stop the vehicle and kept driving.

In the meanwhile, Prashant allegedly took out his service pistol and shot at Vivek, who had barely driven half a kilometre ahead.

The bullet hit Vivek and he rammed the vehicle to a divider. After the incident, the cops fled. Vivek was rushed to the Lohia Hospital where he died during treatment.

An FIR was lodged against the cops the next day and the chargesheet was filed on March 23, 2019. Prashant Chaudhary is lodged in Lucknow prison and Sandeep Kumar is out on bail.