At last the law has caught former Minister Shashi Tharoor for his crimes in the mysterious death of his wife Sunanda. On Tuesday, Delhi’s fast-track court summoned Shashi Tharoor as an accused in the case and asked him to appear before it on July 7, saying there were sufficient grounds to proceed against him.
The Court also asked Delhi Police to file a reply on BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s demand on the production of Delhi Police’s Vigilance Report which details the lapses and evidence destruction by the first probe team.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal took cognisance of the offences of alleged abetment of suicide and committing cruelty by Tharoor towards Pushkar.
“I have heard the prosecutor. I have gone through and perused the charge sheet and the documents filed along with it. On the basis of the police report (charge sheet), I take cognisance of offence of abetment of suicide of late Sunanda Pushkar and committing cruelty upon her by Dr. Shashi Tharoor,” the judge said.
“There exists sufficient grounds to proceed against Tharoor for commission of offences of Section 306 and 498 A of IPC. Issue summons to him for appearance for July 7,” the court added.
The Court also asked Delhi Police to file a reply on BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s demand on the production of Delhi Police’s Vigilance Report which details the lapses and evidence destruction by the first probe team. Prosecutor Atul Kumar Srivastava objected on the production of the Vigilance Report of Delhi Police and suggested Swamy’s demand of assisting the prosecution can be considered when the case transferred to a Sessions Court, the competent court to conduct a trial against charges imposed on Tharoor.
“The Vigilance Report is a must. It details the lapses and evidence tampering committed by the first probe team and the Vigilance probe was ordered by none other Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Verma in November 2016, who is now CBI Director. I have no problem with the current probe team. I don’t want a copy of the Vigilance Report. But this court must see the Vigilance Report which details how this case was botched up,” said Swamy.
“If Delhi Police says there is no Vigilance Report, then I can give the copy of it tomorrow,” he added, reiterating for the consideration of the Vigilance Report. According to media reports, the first probe team headed by the then Joint Commissioner Vivek Gogia[1] was the main culprit in botching up the investigation[2]. The mobile phones of Sunanda were returned to Tharoor on the very next day of the mysterious death. Even the bed sheet in the hotel room, where Sunanda’s body was found was collected 10 months after the incident.
In a nearly 3,000-page charge sheet, the police has named Tharoor as the only accused while also alleging that he had subjected his wife to cruelty. It had also urged the court to summon Tharoor as an accused. The couple’s domestic servant, Narayan Singh, has been named one of the key witnesses in the case. Sunanda was found dead in Hotel Leela on the night of January 17, 2014.
The Congress MP and former UN staffer was 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[3].
Dependra Pathak, chief spokesperson Delhi Police said, “We have investigated the case professionally.
We will defend the case in the court and do a proper follow-up of the court proceedings.”
According to Tharoor’s lawyers, they are weighing several legal options including taking bail or even approaching Delhi High Court for quashing the summons of the trial court before appearing in trial court on July 7.
References:
[1] Home Ministry brings back Vivek Gogia, who hushed up the Sunanda Murder probe to Delhi Police – May 12, 2017, PGurus.com
[2] Sunanda Murder: Swamy points out wrongdoings and faults in the Delhi Police probe – Aug 1, 2017, PGurus.com
[3] A look at the timeline of investigation of Sunanda’s murder – Jan 24, 2016, PGurus.com
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These are politicaldeleberations
Finally Swamy got this guy biting the dust. But for him all these lutyens gang of thugs would have gone Scott free.