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Shashi Tharoor Summoned By Delhi Court As An Accused In Sunanda Pushkar Death Case

He will have to appear before the court on July 7.
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Taking cognizance of the chargesheet filed in the Sundanda Pushkar death case, a Delhi court has summoned Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on July 7 as an accused.

News18 reported Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal as saying, "I have gone through chargesheet and documents filed ...On the basis of the police report, I take cognisance for the offence of abetment to suicide punishable under Section 306 and committing cruelty upon late Sunanda Pushkar under Section 498A IPC."

The court said it found sufficient ground to proceed against Tharoor and issued the summons.

Reacting to the court order, Tharoor put out a statement saying he will comply with the order. He, however, reiterated that he found the charges preposterous and baseless.

He said, "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."

Tharoor was named in the chargesheet filed by the Delhi police before the court on May 14. He has been charged with cruelty and abetment of suicide.

During the last hearing on May 28, the Delhi police had read out her last email to her husband Tharoor before the court.

Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava read out the email, sent to Tharoor nine days before her death, where Pushkar had written a poem.

"I don't care about the tests. I have no will to live. All I pray is death," Pushkar had allegedly written in the email.

The police had also told court that Pushkar had died due to poisoning and 27 Alprax tablets were found in her room. The report also quoted the chargesheet saying Tharoor ignored Pushkar as she was slipping into depression and she had Alprax.

Pushkar was said to be ill at the time of her death.

When the chargesheet was filed earlier this month, Tharoor had dismissed the police reports saying, "I have taken note of the filing of this preposterous charge sheet and intend to contest it vigorously. No one who knew Sunanda believes she would ever have committed suicide, let alone abetment on my part. If this is conclusion arrived at after four plus years of investigation."

He also said, "It does not speak well of the methods or motivations of the Delhi Police. In October 17, the Law Officer made a statement in the Delhi High Court that they have not found anything against anyone and now in 6 months they say that I have abetted a suicide. Unbelievable!"

Pushkar was found dead under mysterious circumstances at the Leela Hotel in Delhi on January 17, 2014.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.