Sunanda Pushkar death: HC junks Swamy's plea for CBI probe
Delhi HC has dismissed a plea filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy seeking a CBI investigation in the death of Sunanda Pushkar, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor's wife. The court said that this appeared to be a "textbook example of political interest litigation," under the pretext of public interest litigation. It observed that Swamy may have concealed information that should have been "disclosed" earlier.
Sunanda dies under "mysterious" circumstances
Sunanda, who married Tharoor in 2010, was found dead at Delhi's Leela Palace hotel on January 17, 2014. The police had refused to make a statement and called the circumstances "mysterious." The death occurred a day after the couple had a bitter spat over Twitter. Sunanda had demanded a divorce after alleging that Tharoor was having an "extramarital affair" with Pakistani journalist, Mehr Tarar.
Tharoor and some others under the police net
Tharoor was suspected and questioned by the police regarding his relationship with Tarar, injury marks on Sunanda's body and empty Alprax tablets' bottles found in her hotel room. Sunanda's relatives also suspected Tharoor and demanded a thorough investigation. Delhi Police suspected that Tharoors' domestic help Narain Singh, driver Bajrangi and family friend Sanjay Dewan were hiding some important facts.
What was Swamy's plea and HC's reaction to the plea?
In July, Swamy filed a plea in HC seeking a court-monitored enquiry in a time-bound manner. HC said that from what was placed before it in court, there was no indication that the probe conducted by the SIT was messed up or "under the influence of any party." It also called the plea "frivolous" and reprimanded Swamy for 'leveling wild allegations'.
What is the current situation in the case?
Following a court order in September, Delhi police on October 16, 2017 de-sealed room no. 345 of Hotel Leela where Sunanda was found dead, three years after it was sealed for investigation. Further, as per the post-mortem report, FBI said that Sunanda died due to poisoning. However, investigators have consistently been rapped for the investigation's slow pace and for reportedly overlooking crucial evidence.
