Sunanda Pushkar Death Case: Delhi Court Adjourns Hearing Till March 7; Directs Police to Not Share Documents to Protect Shashi Tharoor’s Privacy

The Delhi Court had on February 4 forwarded the case to a sessions court for further proceedings.

New Delhi: The hearing in Sunanda Pushkar death case is adjourned till March 7 by the Delhi Court on Thursday. Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who has been accused of subjecting his wife Sunanda Pushkar to cruelty and abetment to her suicide, appeared at a Delhi court on Thursday. While hearing the arguments, the sessions court directed the police and the prosecution not to share the chargesheet and other documents of the case. This was done in the light of Tharoor’s “right of privacy, right to reputation and right to receive free and fair trial”.

The Delhi Court had on February 4 forwarded the case to a sessions court for further proceedings. The Patiala House Court also dismissed the plea filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy to assist the court in the investigation against Tharoor. The Court directed the Delhi Police to preserve its vigilance report in the matter.

On January 17, 2014, Sunanda Pushkar (51) was found dead in her suite at a five-star hotel in Delhi. The couple was staying in the hotel as their house was undergoing renovation. Police have taken Sunanda Pushkar’s last messages in social media for a declaration of death. Police said that in a mail to Shashi Tharoor, Sunanda Pushkar wrote that she had “no desire to live…all I pray for is death.” A couple of days before her suicide, her social media account reveals her alleged accusation against her husband of having an affair with a Pakistani journalist.

Tharoor was charged under Sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 498A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He, however, has dismissed the charges as “preposterous.”

(With Agency inputs)