Delhi Court Sentences Four Men To Life Imprisonment In Journalist Soumya Vishwanathan Murder Case

A Delhi Court on Saturday sentenced four men to life imprisonment in the murder case of journalist Soumya Vishwanathan, more than 15 years after she was killed in 2008.

Additional Sessions Judge Ravindra Kumar Pandey of Saket Court also sentenced the fifth convict, Ajay Sethi, to simple imprisonment for a period of three years.

The four convicts namely Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik and Ajay Kumar have been sentenced to life imprisonment. 

Fines have also been imposed on the convicts. Detailed order on sentencing is awaited.

On October 18, the court had convicted the five men. Those convicts who have been awarded life sentence were found guilty for the offences under Section 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code, 1860. 

They were also found guilty under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) provisions for committing organised crime resulting in the death of any person.

Sethi was convicted for the offence under Section 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) of IPC as well as MCOCA for conspiring to abet, aid, or knowingly facilitate organised crime and receiving proceeds of organised crime.

All convicts have been in custody since March 2009.

Vishwanathan was shot dead on September 30, 2008, while she was returning to her home from work in her car late in the night.

The Delhi Police claimed that the motive behind her murder was robbery. As per the Police, the journalist’s murder case was cracked after the recovery of the weapon used in IT executive Jigisha Ghosh’s killing.

The trial court had awarded death penalty to Kapoor and Shukla and sentenced Malik to a life imprisonment in Jigisha Ghosh murder case in August 2016.

However, in 2018, the Delhi High Court had commuted the death sentence awarded to Kapoor and Shukla to life imprisonment. Malik’s life imprisonment was also upheld by the High Court.