Tweets of Sunanda Pushkar are primary evidence: Shashi Tharoor's lawyer tells Delhi HC

New Delhi [India], July 15 : Senior lawyer Vikas Pahwa appearing for Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday told the Delhi High Court that the tweets of deceased Sunanda Pushkar are primary evidence which is stored in mobile and laptop and the reply filed by Delhi police is not based on what is sought by the court.
"The cause of death is not established at all. They (Delhi Police) have relied on the psychology report where the mindset of the deceased has been examined," Pahwa argued.
He said Instagram, Twitter are apps. "If I don't click on the app, the data won't come. The Twitter account on these phones will only be of use if you click on it. These tweets are primary evidence," he said.
The submission of Tharoor's lawyer comes on his plea seeking directions to the investigation officer/Delhi Police to write a letter to Twitter for securing the inactive Twitter account of late Sunanda Pushkar, claiming her tweets were relevant for the criminal trial.
Justice Manoj Ohri, after hearing the arguments, asked Tharoor's lawyer to file a two-page note on his submissions and scheduled the matter for further hearing on September 18.
Tharoor, represented by senior advocates Vikas Pahwa and Gaurav Gupta, submitted that the tweets and Twitter timeline of the deceased is of utmost importance in the case.
Pahwa had earlier argued that perusal of tweets of Sunanda Pushkar would reflect her actual frame of mind, which is contrary to the prosecution case. He also argued that Sunanda Pushkar never had any suicidal ideations, which is manifested from the series of tweets, withheld by the Delhi Police from the trial court.
However, with the deceased not being alive now, there is a possible threat and reasonable apprehension that the Twitter account and the tweets of the deceased may be deleted, the plea said.
"If this happens, it would extinguish a very crucial right of the petitioner to exonerate himself from the false charges leveled against him," it added.
It said that the petitioner has the right to fair trial also entails that the police preserves such materials, documents, and things that are necessary for the adjudication of the case.
A trial court had earlier dismissed the application of Shashi Tharoor seeking to incorporate the tweets of his wife Sunanda Pushkar before her death be put on record.
Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel in New Delhi on the night of January 17, 2014. Tharoor was later charged under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) including for the abetment to suicide and cruelty.
The lawmaker has been granted bail on a condition that he will seek prior permission of the court before travelling abroad.