SHASHI THAROOR WAS DISCHARGED IN THE CASE OF SUNANDA PUSHKAR'S DEATH 

A special court in Delhi that deals with cases against legislators discharged Shashi Tharoor, the Congress MP, in the case of the death of his wife, Sunanda Pushkar. Judge Geetanjali Goel dismissed Tharoor after asking him to file bonds.

The prosecution charged Tharoor under abetment to suicide 306, cruelty by husband 498A and alternatively u/s 302 of the IPC. 

Atul Shrivastava, the Special Public Prosecutor, argued that Pushkar sustained injuries before her death, which was reflected in the post mortem report. Pushkar was a healthy person, and She died due to poisoning;  27 tablets of Alprax were found in her room. However, it is still not clear how many pills she consumed.

Pushkar was subjected to mental cruelty by her husband on account of several controversies over Tharoor's extramarital affair. Shrivastava further said that as far as the alternative charge u/s 302 is concerned, the medical experts did not rule out any possibility of a drug being injected into Pushkar.

Advocate Vikas Pahwa, appearing for Tharoor, relied on several Supreme Court Judgments to substantiate his point that the Extra Marital affair was not enough to the ground to amount cruelly. Hence, his client cannot be held liable u/s 498A of the Indian Penal Code. He further argued that even after four years of investigation, the Police did not find any cause for Pushkar's death. Moreover, numerous reports of the medical board had ruled out the death as suicide or homicide.

Author: Papiha Ghoshal