Police: Have probed case professionally

New Delhi: The Delhi police on Tuesday said it has “professionally” investigated the charges against Shashi Tharoor and will defend them in court after the Congress leader was summoned as an accused by a Delhi court in the case related to his wife Sunanda Pushkar’s death.

The court took cognisance of Tharoor’s alleged offences of abetment of suicide and committing cruelty towards Pushkar and asked him to appear before it on July 7, saying there were sufficient grounds to proceed against him.

Dependra Pathak, chief spokesperson Delhi Police and special commissioner of police (traffic), 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.”

The police had on May 14 accused the Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapu-ram of abetting Pushkar’s suicide and told a city court that he should be summoned as an accused in the four-and-half year-old case, claiming there was sufficient evidence against him.

In a nearly 3,000-page chargesheet, the police named Mr 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 as one of the key witnesses in the case. Pushkar was found dead in a luxury hotel room on the night of January 17, 2014.

Mr Tharoor has been 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.

An FIR was registered by the Delhi Police on January 1, 2015, against unknown persons under IPC Section 302 (murder).

The court also heard BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s application seeking its nod to allow him to assist the prosecution in the case and a direction to the police to produce the report of a vigilance inquiry conducted earlier in the matter. The court asked the Delhi police to file a written reply.

“The court has already heard (Swamy’s application) and given directions to Delhi Police. Let the application come to Delhi Police. We will give a proper reply,” the senior officer said.