The head of the forensics department of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has said he did not yield to the pressure to manipulate the autopsy report of former Union minister Shashi Tharoor's wife Sunanda Pushkar.
File photo: Union minister Shashi Tharoor's businesswoman wife Sunanda Pushkar. (PTI)
Breaking his silence on the controversy, Tharoor issued a statement on Facebook saying he has cooperated with the authorities from the beginning and asked them to bring the probe into the death of his wife to a definite conclusion.
"Upon the tragic loss of my wife Sunanda and from the very beginning, I have requested for a thorough investigation by the authorities to be conducted and concluded rapidly and transparently," he posted.
Read: Tharoor, forensic doctor will be examined if needed: Police
"The Pushkar family has taken the same view and we have all fully co-operated with the authorities. I reiterate my request to bring this protracted inquiry to a clear and definitive conclusion at the earliest, so as to put all speculation to rest."
Dr Sudhir Gupta, who headed the team that conducted the autopsy of Pushkar, had alleged that he was forced by a UPA minister to cover up the case and alter the report by saying her death was "natural" but said he stood by his report stating she died of drug poisoning.
Dr Gupta has written to the Union health ministry and the chief vigilance commission regarding the issue.
In his letter to health minister Harsh Vardhan, he reportedly alleged a "malafide agenda to oust me as head of department" which "have genesis in the cases of Sunanda Pushkar and Nido Tania since I had taken a professional and ethical stand which went against the vested interests of certain persons in AIIMS."
Pushkar was found dead in a five-star hotel in New Delhi on January 17, a day after a very public spat on Twitter with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar over an alleged affair with Tharoor. Her death was termed as "sudden" and "unnatural".
Read: Sunanda Pushkar died an unnatural sudden death say AIIMS doctors
Dr Gupta has also lodged a complaint with the central administrative tribunal (CAT).
In his affidavit dated June 26 to the CAT, he has accused both the health ministry and the former health minister and then president of AIIMS Ghulam Nabi Azad, of pressuring him to act in an "unprofessional" manner to hush up the matter.
"(The) applicant could not muster courage of openly placing the facts in black and white as the former President of AIIMS Shri Gulam Nabi Azad was an immensely powerful politician and then the Health Minister and the Husband of late Sunanda Pushkar was also a minister and a powerful politician," Gupta said in his affidavit.
Union health minister on Wednesday said he has asked the AIIMS to provide a detailed report on Dr Gupta's allegations.
"After I became the health minister, Dr Sudhir Gupta of AIIMS had written to our department regarding his promotion. But after TV channels yesterday said that he has made a specific allegation, I have written to the AIIMS director seeking a detailed information in this regard," said Vardhan.
Dr Gupta has claimed that he is being targeted because he did not bow to the pressure.
The premier hospital had recently approved a proposal to promote another doctor from the forensics department and Dr Gupta feared that he could be replaced as the head of the department.
When contacted, Gupta refused to comment.
"I don't want to comment on this issue. It is a legal matter, a serious issue, I cannot share with the media. I am a government servant. Whatever I wanted to say, I have said at a competent place," he told PTI.
But hospital sources confirmed he has approached CAT and has submitted email exchanges as proof.
The autopsy report had mentioned more than a dozen injury marks on Sunanda's both hands and an abrasion on her cheek which suggests a "use of blunt force", besides a "deep teeth bite" on the edge of her left palm.
Viscera samples were preserved after the autopsy at AIIMS and were sent to Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) for further tests.
The CFSL report hinted at drug poisoning but its findings were not conclusive enough to file an FIR in the case, according to police.
The search and seizure memorandum of the police, which is a part of the report, mentioned finding of mix of two drugs - Alprazolam and Excedrin. Excedrin is a combination of acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine while Alprazolam is an anxiolytic.
The probe into the case was handed over to the Crime Branch on January 23. However, the case was transferred back to the South District police two days later on January 25.
Inquest proceedings under Section 174 CrPC were initiated in the Sunanda case under which a sub-divisional magistrate inquires into the death of a woman if she dies within seven years of her marriage.
In a report to the police, the SDM - who had recorded the statements of Sunanda's brother, son, Tharoor and his staff - had said that no family member suspected any foul play in the death.
Delhi Police commissioner BS Bassi said he was not aware of the allegations made by Dr Gupta.
"I am not aware of the allegations made by the doctor. I would look into the matter when it comes to me," he said.
Asked whether the Delhi Police, which is investigating the case will question Dr Gupta, Bassi said that they will decide the case on merit.
AIIMS denied it had put any pressure on Dr Gupta to change his report on Pushkar. "There was no effort by AIIMS to scuttle or influence Dr Gupta's probe. There is no evidence of it," said Dr Neeraj Bhatla, chairperson of the hospital's media and protocol department, and spokesperson Dr Amit Gupta at a press conference.
(With PTI inputs)
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