Sunanda Pushkar Death: Shashi Tharoor Faces Trial Beginning Feb 21 On Charges Of Abetment To Suicide And Cruelty

Beginning February 21, a Delhi sessions court will commence hearings on the Sunanda Pushkar death case in which her husband and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor is facing charges of abetment to suicide and cruelty, The Times Of India reported.

The Patiala court today (Feb 4) sent Sunanda Pushkar's death case against former Union Minister and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor to the sessions court for further proceedings.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal sent the case to Additional Sessions Judge Arun Bhardwaj since the offence under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code was triable by a sessions judge.

The court also directed Delhi police to preserve the vigilance report in the matter. The maximum punishment for the offence is 10 years of imprisonment.

Tharoor has been charged under sections 498-A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) and 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), but has not been arrested in the case.

The Patiala House Court also dismissed BJP MP Subramanian Swamy’s plea seeking to assist the court in the matter.

Sunanda Pushkar, the then wife of Tharoor, was found dead in mysterious circumstances in a suite of an upscale y hotel in Delhi on the night of January 17, 2014. Tharoor was granted bail last year

The couple were said to be staying in the hotel as it was claimed that the official bungalow of Tharoor was being renovated at that time.