NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Saturday urged a court here to frame murder charges against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor for abetting the suicide of his wife Sunanda Pushkar.
The police asked CBI special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar to frame charges under Sections 498-A ( Husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty), 306 (abetment of suicide) or in alternative 302 (murder) of IPC against him.
Pushkar was found dead in a suite of luxury hotel Leela in Delhi’s Chanakyapuri on the night of January 17, 2014. The couple was staying there as the official bungalow of Tharoor was being renovated at that time.
Senior public prosecutor Atul Srivastava stated that Pushkar was “distressed” and “felt betrayed” in her marital life. According to their domestic help, the couple had fights over a girl named ‘Katy’ and “issues related to the Indian Premier League”, Srivastava said.
The prosecutor further told the court that Tharoor’s relation with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar also added to Pushkar’s mental agony.
Police accused Tharoor of torturing his wife which abetted her to commit suicide. The post-mortem report found poisoning as the cause of Pushkar’s death. It also revealed 15 injury marks on various parts of her body, including in forearm, arms and legs, police said.
Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, appearing for Tharoor, refuted the submissions, saying the arguments made by the prosecutor were contrary to the bare reading of the charge sheet and the charges pressed by him were “absurd and preposterous”.
The former Union minister, who is currently out on bail in the case, was charged by Delhi Police under Sections 498-A and 306 of the Indian Penal Code. The case is now listed for the next hearing on October 17.
(With PTI inputs)