A special court in Delhi on Wednesday, August 18, discharged Congress Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor in the death case of his late wife Sunanda Pushkar. According to Live Law, Tharoor has been discharged of all charges. Live Law adds that after the court delivered the order, Tharoor, who was also present, thanked the court for discharging him and said, "It had been seven and half years and it was a torture." The court has, however, said that the order will not be uploaded online as it has a charge under Section 498A (harassment of woman).
Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel in the city 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. Tharoor had been charged by the Delhi police under sections 498A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He was, however, never arrested in the case.
Tharoor had argued in court that the police were never able to conclusively establish the cause behind the death, including whether it was suicide or murder. His lawyers have also pointed out that family members- both his and Sunanda’s- have never complained of ill treatment on his behalf.
Shortly after the order was pronounced, Shashi Tharoor issued a statement, thanking the Judge Geetanjali Goel for discharging him in a case he has “consistently described as preposterous. “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. In our justice system, the process is all too often the punishment. Nonetheless, the fact that justice has been done, at last, will allow all of us in the family to mourn Sunanda in peace. I am grateful to my lawyers, particularly Vikas Pahwa and Gaurav Gupta, for all that they have done to bring the case to this conclusion,” Tharoor’s statement read.
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 18, 2021
The court was scheduled to pronounce the order much earlier, but the case saw multiple adjournments in the past year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The case was deferred on April 29, May 19 and June 16, and then again on July 2, which is when the court received an application from the prosecution seeking one week's time to file written submissions. The case was then scheduled for pronouncement on August 18.
Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, representing Tharoor, had sought his client's discharge in the case, contending that the prosecution had not alleged any mental or physical torture against his client. Pahwa also argued that police, after spending four years on the investigation, could not even find the cause of Pushkar's death.
Special public prosecutor Atul Shrivastava had argued that before her death, Pushkar had sustained injuries on her body, and they were reflected in the post-mortem report. He submitted 27 tablets of Alprax were found in her room, although it was not clear as to how many pills she had consumed.