Delhi HC Issues Notice On Shashi Tharoor's Plea To Preserve Sunanda Pushkar's Twitter Account & Tweets

The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice to the Delhi Police in an petition filed by MP and senior Congress leader Dr. Shashi Tharoor, seeking for directions to the Investigating Officer to write a letter to Twitter for securing and preserving the inactive Twitter account of his late wife Sunanda Pushkar.

Justice Manoj Ohri of the Delhi High Court heard the Application which states that the inactive Twitter account of late Sunanda Pushkar Tharoor is extremely relevant to the criminal trial which is pending against Dr. Tharoor for allegations of abetment of suicide of Pushkar.

Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa, along with Advocate Gaurav Gupta, appeared on behalf of Dr. Tharoor, and argued that the perusal of the tweets of Sunanda would help to shed a light on her actual frame of mind, and thereby, contradict the prosecution's case. It had been previously argued that the Delhi Police was selectively providing evidence in order to further their case.

Pahwa argued that Pushkar never had any suicidal ideations, which could be manifested from the series of tweets that have been withheld by the Delhi Police from the Trial Court. However, Additional Public Prosecutor Dr. MP Singh, appearing on behalf of the Delhi Police took a stand that the tweets had not been considered and that they did not have in their possession a copy of the same.

Pahwa, in response to the Delhi Police's stand, submitted that the tweets were in public domain and can be accessed by everyone. Accordingly, Justice Ohri issued notice to the Delhi Police and sought for a reply to the Application.

The matter is now listed on 15th July.

Pushkar had been found dead in January 2014 at a hotel in New Delhi. In 2015, the Delhi Police reported that Pushkar had been murdered and an FIR had been filed in this regard. In May 2018, Dr. Tharoor was charged with abetment to suicide and marital cruelty under Sections 306 and 498A of the Indian Penal Code.

Previously, in February 2020, Justice Ohri had issued notice to the Delhi Government and had directed for a status report to be filed on a petition by Dr. Tharoor, who had moved the High Court against a 30th January Order rendered by a trial court which had dismissed Dr. Tharoor's plea for directions to the police for the production of certain tweets of Pushkar.