SIT Readies Sunanda Pushkar Case Report

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday was told by the Delhi Police's special investigation team (SIT) that after "thorough professional and scientific investigations", it has prepared a draft final report into the death of Sunanda Pushkar, the wife of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.

The draft has been sent to the Prosecution Department for legal scrutiny and would be filed in the trial court concerned after being vetted, said the affidavit filed by Deputy Commissioner of Police Romil Baaniya, who is supervising the case. "The special investigation team (SIT), after conducting thorough professional and scientific investigations, has prepared a draft police report under section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code and sent the same to the Prosecution department of Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi for legal scrutiny."

"As soon as the draft police report is received after legal vetting by the Prosecution Department, the same shall be submitted before the competent trial court for consideration and concomitant judicial proceedings." The affidavit was filed on a plea filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy seeking a court-monitored SIT probe into Pushkar's death.

Earlier, the apex court bench of Justice Arun Mishra and Justice A.M. Khanwilkar kept open the question on the locus of Rajya Sabha member Swamy (a third party) in the matter. Swamy had approached the top court against the Delhi High Court's order that dismissed his plea for the court-monitored probe into Pushkar's death.

On October 26, 2017, the Delhi High Court had dismissed Swamy's plea while terming it as a "political interest litigation", and had also said that it was not satisfied that the plea could be entertained as a PIL (Public Interest Litigation). In his petition before the High Court, Swamy had said there has been constant attempt to block the investigation and alleged that the registration of an FIR took almost a year and nothing has happened after that.

The plea had alleged that "very influential people are involved in the case, leading to attempts to protect them and the matter has faced a lot of unnecessary delay already". The court had also questioned Swamy for not stating anywhere in his petition that he is a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and that the person against whom he was making the allegation was from the rival Congress.

Pushkar, who married Tharoor in 2010, was found dead under mysterious circumstances inside a room at the Leela Palace Hotel in Delhi on January 17, 2014.

IANS