Shashi Tharoor to stand trial in Sunanda Pushkar case: If convicted he may face 10 years imprisonment

In a big setback to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, Delhi’s Patiala House Court today took cognizance of the charge-sheet filed in the Sunanda Pushkar death case and ordered start of trial against Tharoor.

Summoning Shashi Tharoor to appear in the court on July 7, the court said there are sufficient proofs against the Congress leader to start a trial.

The Delhi Police had on May 14 accused the Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram, of abetting Pushkar’s suicide and told the court that he should be summoned as an accused in the four-and-half year-old case, claiming there was sufficient evidence against him.

The couple’s domestic servant, Narayan Singh, has been named one of the key witnesses in the case.
Tharoor dismissed the charges as ‘baseless and preposterous’. He said that the charges are the product of a malicious and vindictive campaign against him.

Referring to the upcoming general elections 2019 elections.

Mr.Shashi Tharoor took to twitter an released a statement today at 4:40 AM IST.

My statement on today's news. pic.twitter.com/5zWf4PR9ue

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) June 5, 2018

Tharoor has been charged with abetting the suicide of his wife Sunanda Pushkar, who was found dead in a five-star hotel in Delhi in 2014. Her last mails and messages on social media have been taken by the police as her dying declaration.

The Congress leader has been charged under sections 498 A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.

Under section 498A, the maximum punishment is up to three years of imprisonment, while jail term up to 10 years is prescribed under section 306.

An FIR was registered by Delhi Police on January 1, 2015 against unknown person under IPC section 302 (murder).
The charges sheet has mentioned that Pushkar was allegedly subjected to mental as well as physical cruelty. Tharoor has not been arrested in the case yet. If Tharoor gets convicted ahead of next year’s general election, he may not be eligible for Parliament even if he appeals.

Tharoor can always apply to the Delhi High Court to have the prosecution quashed if it appears that there is no evidence.