Court reserves order on Swamy plea in Pushkar death case

Shashi Tharoor

Special Judge Arun Bhardwaj said it would pass its order on May 13 on Swamy's plea seeking to bring on record a vigilance report on the alleged tampering of evidence in the case.

The court was hearing arguments against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, accused of abetment of suicide of his wife Sunanda Pushkar.

Swamy told the court that there is certain evidence which is required in the case. He told the court that some people had gone to "extraordinary extent" to "make sure that the evidence was destroyed."

But Tharoor's counsel and senior advocate Vikas Pahwa opposed the plea and said that Swamy has no locus in the case because he is neither associated with the prosecution nor with the accused or victim.

Swamy responded that he has a locus in the matter as charge sheet, in this case, was the outcome of his public interest litigation filed in the higher court.

Defense counsel Pahwa said public suits did not grant anyone the right to be a part of a trial.

Advocate Pahwa also said that all the allegations on the destruction of evidence were false.

Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava also opposed Swamy's plea and raised a question over its maintainability.

On May 14, 2018, police chargesheeted Tharoor under Sections 306 and 498A of the Indian Penal Code, pertaining to abetment to suicide and cruelty to wife, which entail a jail term of up to 10 years.

Pushkar, 51, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in a hotel room in south Delhi on January 17, 2014, days after she alleged that Tharoor was having an affair with a Pakistani journalist.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also, download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get the latest updates