New Delhi: The Delhi court on Wednesday cleared Congress leader Shashi Tharoor of charges in connection with the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar. Special Judge Geetanjali Goel of the Rouse Avenue Court said that the accused was discharged and asked him to file a bond.
Shashi Tharoor, who was present during the virtual hearing, thanked the court and said it had been absolute torture for the past seven-and-half years. The senior Congress leader on Wednesday said his faith in the Indian judiciary stands vindicated and the ruling brings a "significant conclusion to the long nightmare" which had enveloped him.
Taking to Twitter, Tharoor posted his statement and said, "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," the former Union minister said.
Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa told the court that they will be filing the bond today or tomorrow. Tharoor was represented by Senior advocate Pahwa and lawyer Gaurav Gupta.
Public Prosecutor Atul Kumar Srivastava represented Delhi Police in the matter.
The story so far
Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel in Delhi on the night of January 17, 2014. The couple was staying in the hotel, as the official bungalow of Tharoor was being renovated at that time.
The medical report had indicated the presence of drugs in Sunanda Pushkar's system. While the initial investigation had been on whether it was a murder, the police finally filed a chargesheet for suicide.
Tharoor was the main accused in the matter according to the Delhi Police. The police in its chargesheet had accused Shashi Tharoor of offences under Sections 498A (marital cruelty) and 306 (abetment to suicide) of the IPC. Tharoor was not arrested in the case. He was granted bail on July 5, 2018.
On April 12 this year, a Sessions Court in Delhi reserved its order on framing charges against Shashi Tharoor.
Special Judge Geetanjali Goel recently reserved the order 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 led to her bad health. The Public Prosecutor also argued that it was not an accidental death and relied on the post mortem report which suggested 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 were not able to establish evidence against the leader and the theory of injecting poison is in the air and cannot 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 to the media and said that death is due to poisoning. Shashi cannot harm even a fly."
