Shivangi Prakash-
The framing of charges in the Sunanda Pushkar death case against Congress MP Dr. Shashi Tharoor was adjourned by a Delhi court on Friday.
The second adjournment occurred as a result of the virtual hearing rule imposed by the Delhi District Courts in the aftermath of the second Covid wave, which allows only urgent and final hearing issues to be heard via virtual mode.
The order on the framing of charges against Tharoor had been delayed by the Court until July 2.
On the night of January 17, 2014, Sunanda Pushkar was discovered dead in a room of a fancy Delhi hotel under strange circumstances. The pair were staying in the hotel since Tharoor’s official residence was undergoing renovations.
In 2019, the Delhi Police sought to charge Congress MP Shashi Tharoor with cruelty to a woman under Sections 498A (husband or relative of husband subjecting her to cruelty), 306 (abetment to suicide), or 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
During the arguments, Tharoor’s lawyer, senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, told the court that the SIT’s investigation cleared him of all the charges levelled against him.
He also asked for Tharoor’s dismissal from the case, claiming that there was no evidence linking him to the crime under either Section 498A (torture of a wife by a husband or relative) or Section 306 (abetting suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.
Shashi Tharoor is currently released on bail.