Sunanda Pushkar death case: Delhi court clears Congress MP Shashi Tharoor of charges
The Rouse Avenue court on Wednesday discharged Congress leader Shashi Tharoor in connection with the Sunanda Pushkar death case. Tharoor was booked under sections of subjecting a woman to cruelty and abetment to suicide in connection with the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar.
Tharoor thanked the Court for discharging him of all offences and said "It had been seven and half years and it was a torture. I'm so grateful."Special Judge Geetanjali Goel pronounced the order in presence of Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa appearing on behalf of Tharoor, Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava and Dr. Tharoor himself.
"This brings a significant conclusion to the long nightmare which had enveloped me after the tragic passing of my late wife Sunanda. I have weathered dozens of unfounded accusations and media vilification patiently, sustained by my faith in the Indian judiciary, which today stands vindicated," Tharoor said in a statement after the court's order.
Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel in the city on the night of January 17, 2014. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, husband of Sunanda Pushkar is the main accused in the matter according to the Delhi Police.
In May 2018, Tharoor, a former union minister, who is currently on bail in the case, was charge-sheeted by Delhi Police under Sections 498-A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Earlier, the pronouncement of the order got deferred in the matter. Special Judge Geetanjali Goel recently had kept the order reserved after prosecution and defence counsel concluded their arguments on the issue of framing of charges.
Earlier, Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava stressed that Pushkar has undergone mental cruelty which leads to her bad health. The Public Prosecutor also argued that it was not an accidental death and relied on the post mortem report which suggests that the cause of death is poisoning which could be oral or injected.
Srivastava had also said that due to the mental cruelty caused to Pushkar, her health became worse. He further added that Pushkar was not facing any health issues earlier but problems begun due to "stress and betrayal".
Tharoor's Defence counsel and Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa said that prosecutors are not able to establish evidence against the leader and the theory of injecting poison is in the air and can not be admissible.
Tharoor's lawyer also read the statement by Sunanda's son recorded under section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, in which he had said, "In the Mortuary of AIIMS, I asked the doctor who conducted the post mortem about the case of death, he (doctor) responded that there is no foul play or poisoning but the same doctor later went into the media and said that death is due to poisoning. Shashi can't harm even a fly."
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