In the absence of specific allegations and sufficient material, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor could not be compelled to face the rigmaroles of a criminal trial, a Delhi court said while discharging him in a case related to his wife Sunanda Pushkar’s death.

There was nothing to demonstrate prima facie that the accused had subjected the deceased to physical cruelty, Special Judge Geetanjali Goel said. Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel on the night of January 17, 2014.