After “seven and a half years of torture”, the Delhi Court acquitted Congress MP Shashi of all the accusations he was charged with, in the death case of his wife.
The 2014 case witnessed its hearing to charges linking Mr Tharoor to Sunanda Pushkar’s death, the cause of which is not still clear.
The clearing of charges came after the police failed to produce evidence against the former Union Minister.
Mr Tharoor had married Sunanda Pushkar in 2010. The latter had moved to a luxury hotel in Delhi as the MP’s home was getting renovated. She was later found dead in the same suite on January 17th, 2014’s night. The police and media houses were quick to garland him as an abettor who pushed her to suicide. Mr Tharoor faced charges of abetment to suicide and cruelty, filed by the Delhi Police.
However, after a years-long debate, the Delhi court today rinsed all charges off the 65-year-old and refused to frame him.
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Expressing his gratitude to the court, a relieved Mr Tharoor said, “Most grateful, your honour. It’s been seven-and-half years of absolute torture. I really appreciate it.”
He also shared a long statement following the announcement of the order, in which he mentioned that his family would now be able to finally mourn the loss of his wife. “This brings a significant conclusion to the long nightmare which had enveloped me after the tragic passing of my late wife Sunanda.” He also spoke about the allegations he had faced and his belief in the judicial system as the current system often bestows punishment to the accused. “I have weathered dozens of unfounded accusations and media vilification patiently, sustained my faith in the judiciary, which today stands vindicated,” he wrote.
While defending himself, he had told the court that as per the evidence, Sunanda’s death was neither a suicide nor a murder. Given the medical problems she was suffering at that time, her death must be considered as an accident, he had said.
His lawyer Vikas Pahwa argued that “not even a single witness” had accused Mr Tharoor of demanding for dowry, harassing or being cruel towards Sunanda Pushkar. He stressed that a Special Investigation team had also found him not guilty.
During the hearing, the court was told that despite 8 years of investigation, the police failed to ascertain the cause of her death.
The string of events started after Sunanda’s death in 2014. Some of her last tweets hinted at her possible fights with her politician husband and his alleged affair with a Pakistani journalist. Her death eventually brought Mr Tharoor under the radar as the police first claimed that she was poisoned.
However, in 2015, they changed course and registered a murder case without the name of a suspect.
Since then, Mr Tharoor was accused and targeted by several political rivals for their agendas. He kept defending himself calling the allegations “preposterous and baseless”.
