Shiv Menon, the only son of the deceased Sunanda Pushkar in his statements, has clearly said that Shashi Tharoor had nothing to do with her death, said the Congress leader’s counsel in a Delhi court on Tuesday.
The submissions were made while Special CBI Judge Geetanjali Goyal was hearing the arguments on charge in the Sunanda Pushkar case against the Congress leader.
Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa, representing Tharoor, while relying on the statement of Sunanda Pushkar’s only son argued, “The only son of the deceased clearly said that Tharoor had nothing to do with the death but my friend (Prosecutor) wants to frame charges on him.”
Pahwa also read the statement by Sunanda’s son recorded under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, in which he had said, “In the Mortuary of AIIMS, I asked the doctor who conducted the post-mortem about the case of death, he (doctor) responded that there is no foul play or poisoning but the same doctor later went to the media and said that death is due to poisoning. Shashi can’t harm even a fly.”
While referring to statements of other family members and friends of Pushkar, Pahwa said, “None of them have levelled any allegations against the accused (Tharoor). In fact, many of them say that she was unwell and I took her to doctors not only here but in France too.”
He further went on to argue that the Investigating Officer’s Report is not binding and a chargesheet could not have been filed in this case as it was going to closure. “They (prosecution) should not feel it’s a post office and they can file anything they want,” the senior advocate submitted before the court.
“This is not a case where they have not been able to prove the cause of death. It is clear from the evidence including the post-mortem and other medical reports that this was neither a suicide or a homicide,” Pahwa said.
In the previous hearing, Pahwa had stated that no conclusive cause of death has been established by the prosecution, relying on the medical reports including the post-mortem and viscera reports.
“Relying upon all these medical documents, it’s not a case of murder as they are saying, it’s laughable. It’s also not a case of suicide or homicide,” said Pahwa.
Pahwa argued that primarily no case under the relevant provisions of IPC is not made in the matter. He had argued that the best possible cause would be a combination of mental health illness along with poor physical health.
Read Also: Supreme Court to hear Mumbai Police ex-chief plea against Anil Deshmukh tomorrow
The court has now slated the matter for further arguments on charge on March 26.
Pushkar was found dead in the suite of a five-star hotel in Delhi on January 17, 2014. The police charged Tharoor in May 2018 with abetment to suicide and marital cruelty under Sections 306 and 498A of the Indian Penal Code.