New Delhi: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was today acquitted of charges by a Delhi court in connection with the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar.
In Sunanda Pushkar Death Case the court refused to frame charges against Shashi Tharoor and cleared him of all charges.
Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in the suite of a luxury hotel in Delhi on the night of 17 January 2014.
Delhi Police had accused Shashi Tharoor of abetment to suicide and cruelty.
The court refused to frame charges against Mr Tharoor and acquitted him of all charges.
Mr. Tharoor said, “Most grateful, your honour. It has been an absolute torture of seven and a half years. I really appreciate it.”
The Congress leader’s counsel told the court that a Special Investigation Team has completely acquitted the politician and he should be acquitted as there is no evidence to establish any charge against him.
Tharoor, a former union minister was currently on bail in the case. He 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).
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 18, 2021
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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.”