Shashi Tharoor seeks anticipatory bail in Sunanda Pushkar death case

A Delhi Court had asked Shahi Tharoor to present himself before it by July 7.

New Delhi: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday sought anticipatory bail from a Delhi court in connection with the Sunanda Pushkar death case.

Tharoor was previously summoned as an accused in the case by a Delhi court, prompting him to term the charges as 'preposterous and baseless.' He had been given time till July 7.

The Kerala MP has maintained that he is innocent of charges levelled against him but the Delhi court found 'sufficient grounds' to proceed against him. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal took cognisance of the offences of alleged abetment of suicide and committing cruelty by Tharoor towards Pushkar. "I have heard the prosecutor. I have gone through and perused the charge sheet and the documents filed along with it. On the basis of police report (charge sheet), I take cognisance of offence of abetment of suicide of late Sunanda Pushkar and committing cruelty upon her by Dr Shashi Tharoor," the judge had said.

In a nearly 3,000-page charge sheet, the police had named Tharoor as the only accused, alleging that he had subjected his wife to cruelty.

The couple's domestic servant, Narayan Singh, was named one of the key witnesses in the case. Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in a luxury hotel room on the night of January 17, 2014.