NEW DELHI: Deciding on the anticipatory
bail plea of
Congress MP
Shashi Tharoor — chargesheeted for abetting his wife Sunanda Pushkar’s suicide — a city
court on Thursday said Delhi Police did not bring anything on record to show if he had tried to influence witnesses or tampered with evidence.
The prosecution had opposed Tharoor’s anticipatory bail plea, but special CBI judge Arvind Kumar didn’t find substance in it. “It is not in dispute that the accused joined the investigation as and when called by the investigation agency. The accused, at any point in time, hadn’t tried to influence any witness, although some of them were his domestic servants,” the judge said.
Senior counsels Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Vikas Pahwa had on Wednesday contended since Tharoor was not arrested before filing of the chargesheet, he should be given protection from arrest. Opposing the argument, special public prosecutor Atul Srivastava had argued, “He (Tharoor) is a frequent flyer and may settle abroad. Some of the key witnesses — including Narayan Singh and Bajrangi — are still working with Tharoor and he may influence them.”
The court observed that Tharoor is a sitting
MP and was MoS for external affairs and found “nothing on record” that could suggest that he had tried to either influence any witness or tamper with evidence. “He has joined investigation as and when called. Apprehension of the prosecution that he may flee from justice and may attempt to move to a foreign country is also without any basis,” it observed.
The prosecution had “failed to cite even a single instance” when Tharoor made any such attempt. The judge was of the view that Tharoor had not been arrested though the case was registered on January 1, 2015. “I order that in the event of arrest of accused by a police official, or at the instance of Metropolitan Magistrate on his appearance, he shall be released on bail on his furnishing personal bond of Rs 1 lakh with one surety,” the judge held.
Tharoor was asked not to leave the country, tamper with evidence and influence witnesses.
