Sunanda Pushkar death case: Shashi Tharoor granted exemption from personal appearance by Delhi court

New Delhi: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor was granted exemption from personal appearance for Thursday by a court in a case relating to his wife Sunanda Pushkar’s death almost four years ago in a luxury hotel in Delhi. The court granted the relief to Tharoor, who was allowed bail earlier in July after he had appeared before it as an accused, on an application moved by his advocate. In his application, Tharoor said that he was unable to come to court since Parliament was in session. [caption id=“attachment_4739781” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. PTI[/caption] The court accepted the application, moved by senior advocate Vikash Pahwa on behalf of the politician, for the day and posted the matter for further hearing on 23 August. Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel in the city on 17 January, 2014. The couple was staying in the hotel, as the official bungalow of Tharoor was being renovated at that time. The court also directed Delhi Police to hand over various documents filed along with the charge sheet, including statements of witnesses, to Tharoor on a plea moved by him. The Thiruvananthapuram MP was granted regular bail by court on 7 July after he appeared before court in pursuance to the summons issued against him. The court on 5 June had summoned Tharoor, observing there was sufficient ground to proceed against him. Tharoor has been charged under sections 498A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), but has not been arrested in the case.