Sunanda death: Delhi court tells cops to de-seal hotel suite

New Delhi: A Delhi court, on Tuesday, ordered the de-sealing of a five-star hotel suite where Congress leader Shashi Tharoor’s wife, Sunanda Pushkar, was found dead in 2014, noting that a huge financial loss was already caused to the hotel.

Metropolitan magistrate Dharmender Singh asked the police to file a compliance report by September 26 while allowing it to take all required articles from the room for its probe.

During the hearing, however, the city police opposed the de-sealing, saying this was a “different” case.

“The suite is sealed for the past 3.5 years and already huge financial loss has been caused to the applicant (hotel). It is relevant to mention here that generally, after the inspection of the crime spot by the FSL team or investigating agency, the said spot is not sealed or closed till the arrival of the FSL result,” the court said.

It also rejected the contention by the deputy commissioner of police that the room should be de-sealed only after the forensic report. It said that the reason was not justified.

During arguments, the DCP told the court that reminders were sent to the forensic labs and sought some more time.

When the court asked why the police was taking so long to de-seal the room, unlike in most of the other criminal cases, the police officer said, “This is a different case. We sent reminders to the forensic labs for the reports yesterday. Only after receiving the reports we would be able to say when the room can be de-sealed. The court may summon the labs as well.”