Sunanda Pushkar death: Delhi court grants bail to Shashi Tharoor
The court said he did not have to file a formal bail application as a sessions court had already granted him anticipatory bail.
The Patiala House Court in New Delhi on Saturday granted bail to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in connection with the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar in 2014.
The court said he did not have to file a formal bail application as a sessions court had already granted him anticipatory bail, ANI reported. The lower court had on Thursday granted the anticipatory bail on the conditions that Tharoor would furnish a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh and would not travel abroad without its permission. It had also ordered him to not tamper with the evidence or witnesses.
The Patiala House Court also set July 26 as the date to consider Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy’s application seeking permission to assist the prosecution the case. Tharoor’s counsel as well as the public prosecutor opposed the application moved by Swamy and questioned his locus standi in the case.
Pushkar was found dead at the Leela Palace hotel in New Delhi on January 17, 2014.
Tharoor had moved the anticipatory bail plea on Tuesday, days before he was to appear in front of the Patiala House Court. On Wednesday, the Special Investigation Team inquiring into Pushkar’s death had opposed Tharoor’s anticipatory bail. The Patiala House Court had reserved its order.
The Patiala House Court had issued Tharoor summons in June, and asked him to appear on July 7. Last month, the court said Tharoor would face trial on charges of abetting suicide and subjecting his wife to cruelty. Pushkar was found dead at the Leela Palace hotel in New Delhi on January 17, 2014.
After the Delhi Police charged Tharoor, he claimed the charges were “preposterous and baseless” and a product of a “malicious and vindictive campaign” against him. “I will continue to vigorously contest these charges and maintain my steadfast conviction that ultimately the truth will prevail through the judicial system that we are privileged to have in our country,” the Thiruvananthapuram MP had said.