Court grants Tharoor anticipatory bail

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor was on Thursday granted anticipatory bail by a Delhi court in a case pertaining to his wife Sunanda Pushkar’s death in a luxury hotel in the capital almost four years ago.

The Thiruvananthapuram MP, who has been summoned as an accused on July 7 in the case, had moved the court for anticipatory bail apprehending arrest.

Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel in the city on the night of January 17, 2014.

Observing that the prosecution’s apprehensions that Tharoor may flee offshore or influence witnesses were “without any basis”, Special Judge Arvind Kumar granted relief and asked him to furnish a personal bond and a surety of ₹1 lakh each while imposing certain conditions, including that he would not tamper with the evidence or leave the country without the court’s prior nod.

It noted that Tharoor, who has not been arrested by the probe agency, has joined the investigation as and when called by the police. It also observed that the police had not, at any point of time, alleged that Tharoor has tried to flee from justice or shift base to another country.

In a seven-page order, the court also noted that Tharoor was a sitting Member of Lok Sabha and used to be the Minister of State for External Affairs in the UPA regime.

The court said “it is not the case of the prosecution that the accused, at any point of time, tried to influence any witness although some of the witnesses were his domestic servants. ... Certainly, he has joined the probe as and when called. There is no allegation that he has not cooperated with the investigating agency during the probe.”

It rejected the prosecution’s contention t hat Tharoor may flee from justice or try to shift his base to some other country, saying it was without any basis.