A Delhi court today adjourned the order related to the framing of charges against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in the Sunanda Pushkar death case. This is the second time that Special Judge Geetanjali Goel has adjourned the pronouncement of the verdict on the issue. Earlier, it was expected on June 16 after the court reserved judgement on April 12. On June 16, it was adjourned for today and now the Rouse Avenue Court has fixed the next date on July 27.
According to reports, the adjournment happened due to the virtual hearing process adopted by the Delhi District Courts due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to the virtual hearing, only urgent and final hearing matters are being taken up.
The prosecution had demanded that charges of abetment to suicide and cruelty under sections 306 and 498A and of murder under section 302 be framed against Tharoor.
Sunanda Pushkar, the wife of Shashi Tharoor, was found dead in a Delhi hotel in January 2014. Delhi Police had filed an FIR in the case in 2015. The Delhi Police charged Tharoor with abetment to suicide and marital cruelty under Sections 306 and 498A in May 2018.
According to the Bar and Bench, the prosecution had contended that Pushkar was completely healthy and she died due to poisoning after the consumption of Alprazolam. It also submitted that Pushkar was subjected to mental cruelty by her husband on account of the several controversies surrounding his alleged extramarital relationship.
Earlier in March this year, Shashi Tharoor submitted in court that family and friends of his wife Sunanda Pushkar have maintained that she couldn’t have died by suicide. Tharoor’s counsel contended that the charges of abetment do not stand when she didn’t die of suicide.