Shashi Tharoor gets anticipatory bail in wife Sunanda Pushkar death case

A Delhi court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor in wife Sunanda Pushkar's death case. Special Judge Arvind Kumar granted the interim protection to Tharoor on a personal bond of Rs one lakh.

The court, however, directed the Congress MP to not leave the country without taking prior permission from the court. He was also asked not to tamper with the evidence of the case.

Days ahead of his appearance before a trial court in the case, Tharoor on Tuesday moved Delhi's Patiala House Court seeking anticipatory bail in wife's death case.

The Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram (or Trivandrum) has already been summoned by the trial court on July 7 as an accused. He was charged with abetting the suicide of his wife by the Delhi police.

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Reacting to court's order, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy took a dig at the Congress leader and said that he can now sit with Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, also the "bail-wallas".

"There is nothing for Shashi Tharoor to celebrate. He is not in Tihar jail, he can sit with Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, they are also bail-wallas," ANI quoted Swamy as saying.

Tharoor’s wife was found dead in a five-star hotel in Delhi on January 17, 2014. According to the charge sheet filed by Delhi police in May, 2018, she committed suicide by overdosing on antidepressant pills. The police made named Tharoor as an accused in the case.

Tharoor, however, termed the police charge sheet “preposterous and baseless” and said that the charges against him in his wife’s death case were the product of "malicious & vindictive campaign" against him.