On Thursday, the Patiala House Court of Delhi accepted Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s plea for anticipatory bail in his wife, Sunanda Pushkar’s death.
The bail was given by Special Judge Arvind Kumar on the condition that the accused furnish a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh and not to leave the country without permission. He was also directed not to tamper with any evidence.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) had earlier said that the probe was concluded and there was no need for custodial investigation.
The plea for anticipatory bail was earlier rejected by the Delhi Police, saying Tharoor might ‘flee the country’.
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Atul Srivastava, Special Public Prosecutor said that Tharoor’s influence might harm the investigation.
“He is a frequent flier and may settle abroad. Some of the key witnesses — including Narayan Singh and Bajrangi — are still working with Tharoor and he may influence them,” he stated.
Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, senior advocates had said that the police statements were contrary to their earlier views.
“In the chargesheet, they (police) said that Tharoor cooperated during the probe and therefore, he was not arrested. Police is speaking contrary to what they were speaking earlier,” Sibal informed the court.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate has summoned Shashi Tharoor as an accused in the case on July 7.
In January 2014, Sunanda, a Kashmiri Pandit had been found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel. The accused had been charged with sections 498A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), but had not been arrested.
