'No definite opinion on cause of Sunanda's death'

New Delhi: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, accused in a case related to his wife Sunanda Pushkar's death, has told a Delhi court that he should be discharged as various investigations have been conducted by experts but they have not given a "definite opinion on the cause of death".

Tharoor, represented by Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa, sought discharge in the case, saying there was no evidence against him to prove the offence punishable under either section 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) or 306 (abetment of suicide) of IPC.

Pahwa said her death should be treated as accidental.

Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel in the city on the night of January 17, 2014. The couple was staying in the hotel, as the official bungalow of Tharoor was being renovated at that time.

Pahwa told special judge Geetanjli Goel on Wednesday that during the course of the investigation there have been a plethora of reports by experts before the investigating officier (IO) but there was 'no definite opinion on the cause of death'.

These reports have been drafted by some of the nation's most renowned doctors & forensic experts. Furthermore, a psychological autopsy was conducted in

this investigation.

All of these reports have one thing in common that is 'no definite opinion on the cause of death'. As experts have failed to establish death by suicide or homicide, one must conclude that the death would fall into the only remaining category which is accidental death, Pahwa told.

He added that even after years of investigation by the police, the prosecution has failed to conclusively identify the cause of death.