With Delhi Sessions Court asking crucial questions of the Delhi Police on the frauds in the probe of the mysterious death of Sunanda Pushkar, the case is at a critical juncture. The Court on Monday came down heavily on the Delhi Police for serious lapses in the probe on the death of Sunanda. The Sessions Judge Arun Bhardwaj summoned the Chief Investigating Officer on May 24 to explain the serious lapses like why the deceased’s mobile phone and laptop were given back to the accused husband Shashi Tharoor on the very next day of the death. The Judge also asked the Investigating Officer (IO) V K P S Yadav present in the Court to explain the reason for the missing of the certain CCTV visuals of the Hotel Leela, where Sunanda was found dead on January 17, 2014.

The Judge was responding to the petition filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy for the production of Delhi Police’s Vigilance Report detailing the illegalities and sabotages in the probe that happened during the first probe team headed by the then Joint Commissioner Vivek Gogia[1]. In his petition under CrPC 301, Swamy said that the charge sheet filed by Delhi Police only accuses Tharoor of domestic violence and forcing wife to suicide. He pointed out that Delhi Police had completely ignored the postmortem report of AIIMS exposing 12 injury marks on her body and poison presence in her body.

The Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava told the Court that he intends to take the assistance of senior advocates. This was objected to by Tharoor’s lawyer Vikas Pahwas and the Prosecutor countered that he is well within his rights to seek assistance during the trial. The IO VKPS Yadav told the court that he needs some time to reply to the Court’s questions on the missing CCTV visuals and return of mobile phones. Hearing this, Judge said the Chief Investigator Manishi Chandra should come to Court on May 24 at 3:30 PM to explain these lacunae.

AIIMS influenced?

Swamy in his petition also pointed that the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) report clearly says that Tharoor tried to influence the postmortem conducting doctors by sending emails with bogus medical reports suggesting that wife was facing serious medical issues. In his petition, Swamy said that this was a serious crime and Tharoor must be charged for sabotaging evidence and influencing the probe, apart from the murder charges. Earlier, Delhi Police told the Court that they were probing into the 12 injury marks found in Sunanda’s body and would file a supplementary charge sheet. However, for the past one year, Delhi Police has not yet acted on this crucial matter after filing the charge sheet on May 2018, limiting the case to domestic violence and forcing to suicide.

References:

[1] Vigilance points to serious lapses in Sunanda probe – May 29, 2018, The Pioneer