Shashi Tharoor discharged in Sunanda Pushkar death case

A Delhi court on Wednesday discharged Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in a case related to death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar in 2014.

Special Judge Geetanjali Goel pronounced the order in a virtual hearing, freeing Tharoor in the case of abetment to suicide and cruelty against Pushkar who was found dead in a luxury hotel in Delhi on the night of January 17, 2014.

Tharoor was represented by Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa and lawyer Gaurav Gupta.

Public Prosecutor Atul Kumar Srivastava appeared for Delhi Police in the matter.

The pronouncement of the order has got deferred several times.

In its arguments, the Delhi police claimed Pushkar has undergone mental cruelty which led to her bad health. It was not an accidental death as the post mortem report suggested that the cause was poisoning which could be oral or injected.

Tharoor's counsel Pahwa contended that prosecutors were not able to establish evidence against the leader and the theory of injecting poison was in the air and could not be admissible.

He also relied upon a statement by Sunanda's son who said there was no foul play or poisoning as Tharoor can't harm even a fly.

In a statement, Tharoor said his faith in the judiciary stood vindicated with the order as charges against him were preposterous. "The fact that justice has been at last will allow us in the family to mourn Sunanda in peace," he said.