Sunanda Pushkar death case: A timeline

A Delhi court has discharged senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor in a case related to the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar in 2014. Here is a timeline of the over seven-year-old case.

Hyderabad: A Delhi court Wednesday discharged Congress leader Shashi Tharoor of all charges in connection with the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar. Here is a timeline of the controversial case:

January 16, 2014: Sunanda Pushkar engages in a war of words with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar on Twitter, a day after the latter posted messages on the social media platform proclaiming her love for Shashi Tharoor.

January 17, 2014: Pushkar was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Room 345 of Leela Palace Hotel in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, where she and Tharoor had moved to as their house was being renovated. Tharoor discovered her body when she did not wake up from her sleep in the evening and informed the Delhi Police.

January 19, 2014: Doctors at AIIMS, who conducted the autopsy, described her death as “sudden unnatural”. The autopsy report indicated that she died of drug overdose, most likely a lethal combination of sedatives, some other strong medicines and alcohol. Dr Sudhir Gupta, who headed the autopsy team, said that there were physical injuries on certain parts of Pushkar's body though these could not be the cause of the death.

January 20, 2014: Doctors at KIMS Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, who had examined Pushkar a few days earlier, said that she did not have serious health problems.

January 21, 2014: A sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), probing Pushkar's death, said that she died of poisoning.

January 23, 2014: The case is transferred to the Crime Branch of Delhi Police amid reports that traces of two drugs – Alprazolam and Excedrin – were found in Pushkar's body.

January 25, 2014: The case is transferred back to Delhi Police.

July 2, 2014: Dr Sudhir Gupta, who headed the panel that conducted the postmortem, alleged that he was pressured by an influential UPA minister to alter the autopsy report. He claimed that he was being targeted as he did not succumb to the pressure and gave a report that stated the death was caused by poisoning, which could be either suicidal or homicidal.

September 30, 2014: AIIMS submits viscera report to Delhi Police which stated that Pushkar's death was “unnatural” and she died due to poison in her body.

January 1, 2015: Then Delhi Police Commissioner stated that Pushkar's death was murder, not suicide. An FIR was lodged by Delhi Police against unknown persons under IPC Section 302 (Murder).

February 2015: Pushkar's viscera samples were sent to the FBI laboratory in Washington for identification of the poison that killed her. This was done on the advice of the AIIMS medical board since the specific substance that killed her could not be identified.

November 2015: Delhi Police received the FBI report which stated that the radiation levels in Pushkar's body were within safety norms. The report was handed over to the medical board for the preparation of a comprehensive report. Delhi Police also asks for journalist Nalini Singh's help since she was the last person to have spoken to Pushkar who wanted to retrieve chats between Tharoor and Tarar on Blackberry Messenger.

February 2016: A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Delhi Police questioned Tharoor who claimed that Pushkar died of drug overdose.

March 2016: Tarar came to Delhi and met a senior officer. She denied having any knowledge with regard to Pushkar's death.

July 6, 2017: BJP leader Subramanian Swamy moved the Delhi High Court seeking a court-monitored probe into the case by a CBI-led SIT. In his PIL, he stated that the case was an “extreme example of the slow-motion of the criminal justice process and the extent to which it can be subverted by the rich and influential”.

October 26, 2017: Delhi High Court dismissed Swamy's PIL describing it as a “political interest litigation”.

January 29, 2018: Swamy moved the Supreme Court after the Delhi High Court dismissed his PIL for a court-monitored probe.

February 2018: The Supreme Court sought a response from Delhi Police on Swamy's plea.

April 20, 2018: Delhi Police informed the Supreme Court that a draft final report has been prepared and this has been sent to the prosecution department of the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi for “legal scrutiny”.

May 2018: Delhi Police charged Tharoor with abetment of suicide in his wife's death case. Charges were made under IPC Sections 306 (abetment to suicide) and 498(A) (husband or relative of a husband subjecting a woman to cruelty). The case was shifted to the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court.

June 5, 2018: The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court summoned Tharoor taking cognizance of the charges of abetment to suicide and cruelty to a woman.

February 4, 2019: The case was sent to a sessions court for trial.

July 18, 2019: Following an application by Tharoor, the court directed the prosecution to share the charge sheet and other documents with only medical and legal experts and not with any person not related to the case.

June 4, 2020: Tharoor approached the Delhi High Court seeking direction from the police to preserve the Twitter account and tweets of Pushkar.

March 17, 2021: Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa sought Tharoor's discharge from the case as no criminal case was established against his client as forensic reports by various laboratories and the psychological autopsy report ruled out Pushkar's death to be homicide or suicide.

July 27, 2021: Court defers its order on framing of charges against Tharoor till August 18.

August 18, 2021: Delhi court discharged Tharoor of all charges in the case.