New Delhi: The Delhi police on Tuesd-ay partly supported a plea in the Delhi high court challenging Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s move to bypass a magisterial court and directly approaching a sessions court for anticipatory bail in the death case of his wife Sunanda Pushkar. The plea by a lawyer has challenged the anticipatory bail granted to Mr Tharoor in the case.

Justice R.K. Gauba was told by Delhi police standing counsel (Criminal) Rahul Mehra that Mr Tharoor ought to have first gone to the magisterial court that had summoned him as an accused, to seek bail.

The court was hearing the petition filed by Delhi lawyer Deepak Anand challenging a trial court’s July 5 order granting anticipatory bail to Tharoor in the matter. Mehra, who was earlier asked by the court to assist in the matter, questioned the locus standi of the petitioner in filing the petition and said “I am supporting him provided he proves his locus”.

He said faith has to be reposed in the trial court and an accused cannot directly approach a higher court bypassing the magisterial court. “Where is the reasonable apprehension that the moment you appear before the trial court, you will be arrested,” he said.

Tharoor, who has also been made a party in the plea, was represented by senior advocate Vikas Pahwa who also questioned the locus of the petitioner and maintainability of the plea. The counsel argued that Mr Tharoor’s apprehension of arrest proved to be right when the police opposed his anticipatory bail plea before the sessions court. “Delhi Police has not challenged the bail order and the case is also sessions triable,” he said and cited the judgements of the Supreme Court on exercise of power by sessions court to grant anticipatory bail. During the hearing, Anand argued that after filing of charge sheet, the trial court took cognisance and issued summons to Mr Tharoor, a member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapur-am. Instead of appearing before the court concer-ned, the Congress leader moved the court of an additional sessions judge which “erroneously” gra-nted him bail, he said.