Baseless, malicious: Shashi Tharoor rejects charges against him in wife Sunanda Pushkar’s death

A Delhi court on Tuesday summoned Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on July 7 as an accused in his wife Sunanda Pushkar’s death case.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Tuesday charges filed against him in the death of his Sunanda Pushkar were “preposterous and baseless”, reacting hours after a Delhi court summoned him as an accused in the case.

Sunanda Pushkar and Shashi Tharoor during their wedding reception at India Habitat Centre on September 5, 2010 in New Delhi.(Manoj Verma/HT File Photo)

“I would like to point out that, from the very start, I have fully cooperated with the investigating team and continue to maintain that due legal process must be followed in all aspects related to the case,” Tharoor said in a statement.

“I would like to reiterate my position that I find the charges preposterous and baseless, the product of a malicious and vindictive campaign against myself. I would 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,” he added.

The Congress leader also asked the media to respect his as well his family’s right to privacy.

Pushkar was found dead in a luxury hotel room in south Delhi on the night of January 17, 2014.

Tharoor, a Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram, was summoned on July 7 after the additional chief metropolitan magistrate took cognizance of the chargesheet and said, “There exists sufficient grounds to proceed against Tharoor for commission of offences in the case.”

In its chargesheet filed in May, the Delhi Police had accused Tharoor of abetting Pushkar’s suicide and told a city court that he should be summoned as an accused over alleged cruelty to his wife.

Tharoor had previously called the chargesheet “preposterous” and termed the action “unbelievable”.