Trouble lies ahead of flamboyant Congress leader Shashi Tharoor as a Delhi court on Tuesday admitted abetment to suicide charges against him in the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar, saying there are “sufficient grounds to proceed” against Tharoor.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) of Patiala House courts Samar Vishal took cognisance of the chargesheet submitted by the Delhi Police and asked Tharoor to appear before him on July 7. On May 28, the court had reserved its order on whether to summon Tharoor as an accused in the case.
“I have heard the prosecutor. I have gone through and perused the chargesheet along with the documents filed. On the basis of police report (chargesheet), I take cognisance of offence of abetment to suicide of late Sunanda Pushkar punishable under Section 306 of the IPC and cruelty under Section 498A IPC upon her by Dr Shashi Tharoor,” the judge said. “There exist sufficient grounds to proceed against Shashi Tharoor for commission of offence,” the ACMM ruled.
In a related development, the judge also issued notice to the prosecution for a written reply on BJP MP Subramanian Swamy’s application.
It may be noted that on May 14, the Delhi Police had accused the lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram of abetting Pushkar’s suicide and told a city court that he should be summoned as an accused in the four-and-half year-old case, claiming there was sufficient evidence against him.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of South district has chargesheeted Tharoor under Sections 306 and 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The charge pertained to abetment to suicide and cruelty to wife, which entails a jail term that could extend up to 10 years.
In a nearly 3,000-page chargesheet, police have named Tharoor as the only accused while also alleging that he had subjected his wife to cruelty. It has also urged the court to summon Tharoor as an accused.
An FIR was registered by the Delhi Police on January 1, 2015 against unknown persons under IPC Section 302 (murder). According to prosecution sources, the chargesheet mentions that Pushkar was allegedly subjected to mental as well as physical cruelty. Tharoor has not been arrested in the case.
Pushkar, 51, was found dead in a hotel suite under highly mysterious circumstances on January 17, 2014, days after she alleged that her husband was having an affair with a Pakistani journalist.
The cause of Pushkar’s death was poisoning. A total of 27 tablets of Alprax were found in her room but it was not clear how many she had consumed.
The couple’s domestic servant, Narayan Singh, has been named one of the key witnesses in the case.
The Delhi Police on Tuesday said it has “professionally” investigated the charges against Shashi Tharoor and will defend them in court after the Congress leader was summoned as an accused by a Delhi court in the case related to his wife Sunanda Pushkar’s death.
Special Commissioner of Police and chief spokesperson Dependra Pathak, said, “We have investigated the case professionally. We will defend the case in the court and do a proper follow-up of the court proceedings.”