The Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court on Thursday convicted former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal in the 2013 alleged sexual assault case filed by his junior colleague. The Bombay High Court’s Goa bench was delivering the verdict on the Goa government’s appeal challenging the acquittal of Tejpal in the alleged sexual assault case by the Goa Sessions Court in 2021. The case pertains to allegations made by a woman journalist, who had accused Tejpal of sexually assaulting her inside a hotel elevator on November 7 and 8, 2013. Tejpal was arrested on November 30 in 2013 on the charges. On September 29, 2017, the court had charged him with various Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including rape, sexual harassment, and wrongful confinement. He, however, pleaded not guilty. Following the framing of charges, Tejpal had moved the Supreme Court seeking quashing of the charges levelled against him. The top court refused to quash the charges and directed the trial to be concluded within six months.
In May 2021, the Goa sessions court had acquitted Tejpal of all charges, holding that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. The trial court noted the absence of medical evidence and relied on messages exchanged between the complainant and Tejpal, concluding that they did not support the prosecution’s claim that she had been traumatised by the alleged assault. The Goa government had then challenged the acquittal before the Bombay High Court, seeking to have the trial court’s judgment set aside.
