Breaking | Bombay High Court Convicts Journalist Tarun Tejpal In 2013 Rape Case, Sets Aside Acquittal

The Bombay High Court Goa Bench on Thursday (August 6) set aside the judgment of a Sessions Court in Mapusa which had acquitted Tehelka Magazine's former editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal in a rape case lodged against him by a junior colleague in November 2013.A division bench of Justice Dr Neela Gokhale and Justice Amit Jamsandekar, allowing the appeal filed by the Goa Government, convicted Tejpal. The bench pronounced Tejpal guilty of the offences of rape and sexual harassment under Sections 376(2)(f) and 376(2)(k), along with Sections 354A, 354B of the Indian Penal Code.He will now be separately heard on sentence.After the pronouncement, Senior Advocate Aabad Ponda requested the bench to show leniency for his client while sentencing, considering the fact that the offence is at least 13 years old. He requested a stay of the conviction order for at least 8 weeks to enable the filing of an appeal in the Supreme Court, considering that it was a reversal of an acquittal. He highlighted that there has been no other case or FIR against Tejpal.Tejpal was present in the courtroom when the order was pronounced, as the bench, while closing the matter for orders, directed him to remain present for pronouncement of the judgment. Addressing the bench, Tejpal said that he was now 62 years old and pleaded for lenience. "I am 62, and I believe I am a victim. I have a wife, and that's not much else to say. All that I can say is we can go and appeal. Please be lenient with me. The rest of the facts are placed on record," he said.Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, for the State, opposed the plea for leniency, saying, "Despite the victim being a girl of his daughter's age, he committed an offence... He was a father figure should have not indulged into this... A precedent must be set... Victim refused but he kept advancing on two subsequent days... This court must give out a clear message to the society that when a girl says no, it means no. A No Means A No."The matter has been adjourned till 2.30 today for hearing on sentence. A detailed copy of the judgment is yet to be made available. The bench decided an appeal preferred by the State CID, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Goa's Advocate General Devidas Pangam.It was argued that the Sessions Court, instead of examining the material on record, assessed the victim's 'post-incident' behaviour, reactions and her background. The court had in fact 'put the victim on trial' instead of conducting a proper trial against Tejpal, the State argued, adding that the trial court ignored material evidence like Tejpal's 'apology email' sent to the victim after she complained about him to the company's then managing editor. Senior Advocate Aabad Ponda had countered the State's argument on behalf of Tejpal, arguing that the trial court's judgment was a 'well-reasoned' one and that it was based on 'objective electronic evidence' and not on 'stereotypical notions.'Special Judge Kshama Joshi of the Mapusa Court had in May 2021 acquitted Tejpal of all the charges in the alleged sexual assault and rape case of a junior colleague working with him. The Court found that there was no material on record to corroborate the allegations levelled by the victim of the offence against Tejpal. It had observed, "Upon considering the other evidence on record, the benefit of doubt is given to the accused, as there is no corroborative evidence supporting the allegations made by the prosecutrix, and the deposition of the prosecutrix also shows improvement, material contradictions, omissions and change of versions, which does not inspire confidence."Notably, the victim had on November 18, 2013, complained to Tehelka's then managing editor, another acclaimed journalist - Shoma Chaudhry. The next day, in a long email, Tejpal sent a formal apology to the victim in which he said, "I apologise unconditionally for the shameful lapse of judgement that led me to attempt a sexual liaison with you on two occasions on November 7 and November 8 2013, despite your clear reluctance that you did not want such attention from me."He further wrote to Chaudhry, in which he called the incident a bad lapse of judgement and an awful misreading of the situation which led to an unfortunate incident that rails against all we believe in and fight for. The victim, however, insisted that an anti-sexual harassment cell be set up under the Vishakha guidelines to investigate the matter. Tejpal eventually stepped down as editor for six-months to allow a fair internal inquiry.In the meantime, on November 22, 2013, the Goa Police took suo motu cognisance of the allegations that were widely reported in national media and registered a complaint.On the other hand, Tejpal alleged that he was being framed in the case at the behest of the then ruling BJP party in Goa.Tejpal was arrested on November 30, 2013, after a local court in Goa rejected his anticipatory bail application. He was granted regular bail by the Supreme Court less than ...

Breaking | Bombay High Court Convicts Journalist Tarun Tejpal In 2013 Rape Case, Sets Aside Acquittal

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Narsi Benwal

Breaking | Bombay High Court Convicts Journalist Tarun Tejpal In 2013 Rape Case, Sets Aside Acquittal

Narsi Benwal

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INR 1099+GST

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Narsi Benwal

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