Delhi HC dismisses plea challenging Shashi Tharoor's bail
A plea seeking cancellation of anticipatory bail granted to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was dismissed by the Delhi High Court on Tuesday. The plea was rejected by Justice RK Gauba. The plea was supported by the Delhi Police. It however, questioned the petitioner’s stand on filing the plea.
The court was hearing advocate Deepak Anand's plea for cancelling the anticipatory bail granted by a sessions court on July 5 to Tharoor, who is accused of abetting the suicide of his wife Sunanda Pushkar.
The anticipatory bail application of the Congress MP was premature, said the petitioner.
It was not maintainable since it was not in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and in violation of the law laid down by the Supreme Court, he added.
Anand further cited the judgement of a top court and said that anticipatory bail plea can only be filed during investigation or prior to investigation but not after the issuance of summons.
The trial court, on June 5, had taken cognisance of the police charge-sheet and had issued summons to Tharoor.
On May 14, police charge-sheeted Tharoor under Sections 306 and 498A of the Indian Penal Code, pertaining to abetment to suicide and cruelty to wife, which entails jail for up to 10 years.
The Congress MP’s wife Sunanda Pushkar was found dead under mysterious circumstances in a hotel room in Delhi on January 17, 2014.
She had earlier accused Tharoor of having an affair with a Pakistani journalist.
