Sunanda Pushkar death: Trial against Shashi Tharoor to begin on February 21

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor will go on trial on February 21 for the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar. The Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram is being tried for abetment to suicide. 

Delhi's Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Monday sent the case against Tharoor to a sessions court. 

The court dismissed Subramanian Swamy's plea seeking to assist the court in the case and has directed Delhi Police to preserve a vigilance report in the matter.

On January 14, Delhi's Patiala House Court had adjourned the case till January 21.

Previously the hearing had been deferred under Section 207 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) as some of the digital documents supplied to Tharoor were not accessible, news agency ANI reported. 

Section 207 of the CrPC says that the police complaint, statements of all witnesses and all other relevant documents relating to the case should be furnished to the accused.

In December last year, the court had directed the Delhi Police to hand over certain documents to Tharoor in connection with the case in which he is named as an accused.

Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel in Delhi on the night of January 17, 2014. Pushkar and her husband Shashi Tharoor were staying in the hotel as Tharoor's official bungalow was being renovated at that time. 

Former Union minister Tharoor has been charged under sections 498-A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) and 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He has not been arrested in the case.

(With inputs from agencies)