[Shashi Tharoor Discharge] Alleged extra-marital affair not sufficient to attract abetment of suicide charge: Delhi court

A Delhi Court while discharging Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in the case relating to death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar said that it found no evidence to show that Tharoor had acted in a manner which provoked, encouraged or incited Pushkar to die by suicide. .Special judge Geetanjli Goel in her order said that there was "nothing on record" to prove that Tharoor acted in order to irritate or annoy Pushkar until she reacted or for that matter “strongly persuaded or advised” her so that she died by suicide."In the instant case, there are no instances or illustrations of instigation or aiding pointed out against the accused which would be covered under ‘abetment’ as interpreted in a catena of judgments. There is no material whatsoever against the accused much less any positive act to instigate or aid the deceased in committing the suicide, even if it is assumed that the death was a suicide. As such, it is not shown, even prima facie that the offence under Section 306 IPC is made out against the accused.”Tharoor was accused of abetting the death of Pushkar who was found dead inside a hotel room in 2014..[Breaking] Special Court discharges Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in Sunanda Pushkar Death Case.The Court stated that in the present case, the deceased might have felt distressed or mentally disturbed with the alleged extra marital relation of the accused but mental disturbance did not constitute the offence of abetment as held in a Supreme Court judgment wherein the discharge of the accused was upheld."Even for instigation, the intention to provoke, incite, urge or encourage doing of an act is an essential factor but the record does not bear out any such intention on the part of the accused," the Court observed..“Likewise in Saroj Sharma v. State of Rajasthan…it was observed that there has to be some relationship between the act of suicide and the conduct of the petitioner, else the charge under Section 306 IPC could not be sustained against the petitioner and it was found that except for stating that there was illicit relationship between the petitioner and another person, there was no averment against the petitioner,” the Court pointed out..The discharge order concluded that the Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava for the State had submitted that the accused could seek discharge only where the material on record was wholly or absolutely insufficient, and the present clearly was one such case.Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa, who sought Tharoor’s discharge in the case, had argued that the prosecution had not alleged any mental or physical torture against his client. The counsel relied on several Supreme Court judgments to substantiate his arguments, one of which was on the point that even having an extramarital affair was not good enough a ground to amount to cruelty under Section 498A IPC.Pahwa was assisted by Advocates Syed Arham Masud and Gaurav Gupta..The Court noted that it had to see whether or not the material on record, prima facie, showed that the accused had abetted the commission of suicide by the deceased, assuming that she had indeed died by suicide..Sunanda Pushkar Death Case Against Shashi Tharoor: A Timeline Of Events.The order recorded the prosecution’s allegations against Tharoor pertaining to purported neglect to observe that the “same cannot be termed as having been done with the intention to goad her or instigate her to commit suicide”. An allegation of extra-marital affair also was dealt with the by Court to hold that the prosecution did not show anything to prove that the accused had provoked, incited or induced Pushkar to die by suicide.“There is nothing to demonstrate any overt act on the part of the accused and only on the ground that he continued the alleged affair…,” the order highlighted..Significantly, the Court also said a person subjecting a woman to cruelty cannot be held guilty of abetment unless something further is shown. “Even for instigation, the intention to provoke, incite, urge or encourage doing of an act is an essential factor but the record does not bear out any such intention on the part of the accused,” it noted.The Court also recorded appreciation for the painstaking efforts put in by the investigating officer initially and then the SIT to collect, analyse and review all available material meticulously.“Thereafter, the chargesheet appears to have been filed in the hope that perhaps the Court would find some material to proceed with the trial against the accused. However, criminal trials require evidence. No doubt a precious life was lost. But in the absence of specific allegations and sufficient material to make out the ingredients of the various offences and on the basis of which the court could, at this stage presume that the accused had committed the offence, the accused cannot be compelled to face the rigmaroles of a criminal trial.”The order, therefore, held,“In view of the above discussion, the uncontroverted allegations made as well as the material collected during the investigation, even if they are taken at their face value and accepted in their entirety, do not prima facie disclose the commission of offences punishable under Sections 498-A or 306 of IPC against the accused. Accordingly the accused Shashi Tharoor is discharged for the offences under Sections 498-A and 306 IPC. Bail bond is cancelled. Surety is discharged.”