In a significant legal development, former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal has approached the Supreme Court of India to contest the Bombay High Court’s recent verdict that convicted him in a notorious 2013 rape case. The legal move, which seeks to overturn the conviction and the consequent ten-year sentence, was officially filed on Thursday morning. Given the urgency of the matter, there is an expectation that the case will be mentioned for an expedited hearing, especially since Tejpal is mandated to surrender in early September.
The Bombay High Court’s Goa Bench, on August 6, had reversed a previous trial court’s decision that had acquitted Tejpal of the charges of sexually assaulting a colleague in 2013. The High Court’s ruling was a significant turning point in the case, which has been under the public and legal spotlight for years.
Simultaneously, the Goa government has also escalated the matter to the Supreme Court, seeking to enhance Tejpal’s sentence from ten years to life imprisonment. However, the State’s petition clarifies that it does not intend to reopen or dispute the conviction findings established by the High Court.
The case traces back to 2013 when allegations surfaced against Tejpal for sexually assaulting a junior colleague within an elevator at a luxury hotel in Goa. Following these allegations, the Goa Police filed a First Information Report (FIR) against Tejpal, citing various offenses, including rape. He was taken into custody in November 2013 but was subsequently released on bail in July 2014.
The trial, which commenced in 2017, spanned four years, culminating in a May 2021 judgment by the trial court that acquitted Tejpal. The trial judge highlighted numerous lapses by the investigating officer and underscored the prosecution’s inability to present critical evidence, such as CCTV footage.
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Following the acquittal, the State of Goa contested the trial court’s decision in the High Court. This led to the reversal of the acquittal on August 6, with the High Court convicting Tejpal and imposing a ten-year imprisonment sentence, alongside a financial penalty exceeding ₹10 lakh.
