NEW DELHI: A former Indian Navy official, whose death sentence was commuted by a Qatari court in 2023 along with seven others, remains in custody over a separate conviction, official sources said on Saturday, while rejecting some allegations made by his family.
The Indian government has already taken up Purnendu Tiwari’s case for a pardon, they added, adding that the Indian embassy in Qatar has been in contact with his wife and that officials from the mission have met him in prison on several occasions. Tiwari was among eight former navy personnel arrested by Qatari authorities on espionage charges in 2022.
While all the other employees returned to India after a Qatari court decided to reduce the sentences, Tiwari remains in Qatar. It was learned that Tiwari is accused of committing financial violations related to his former employer, a subsidiary of the Amman-based Al Dhahirah Engineering and Security Services Company.
Tiwari’s sister, Mitu Bhargava, said in a social media post that the government had failed to secure his return, and even claimed that the Qatari Supreme Court had “rejected these allegations” and declared his “innocence” in a ruling issued on March 12.
“This assertion by Mitu Bhargava is factually incorrect. The Qatari Court of Cassation has sentenced Tiwari along with the Omani owner and another Qatari officer,” a source said.
“This ruling came in February 2026. The ruling issued on March 12 is a separate case filed by the Omani owner of the company against Tiwari,” she said.
The government has always provided all possible assistance to Tiwari and continues to do so, sources said.
The source mentioned above said: “The embassy is in contact with his wife and our officers have met him in prison several times. We also discussed the issue of amnesty.”
The sources said that the case in which Tiwari was sentenced is separate from the one in which he and others were released after the Indian government intervened.
At a press conference, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday: “The eighth Navy veteran has a special case against him. He has been arrested in that case. It has nothing to do with the previous case.”
“The court there issued a ruling according to which he was sentenced. We are in contact with him, his family and his lawyer. So, this is precisely the case,” he said.
In a social media post, Bhargava said on Saturday: “Commander Tiwari is a decorated naval officer. To subject such an officer to imprisonment, humiliation and suffering despite no fault of his own is a matter of serious national concern.”
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