New Delhi, Sep 25 (IANS): The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Goa government on a plea filed by former Tehelka Editor-in-Chief Tarun Tejpal challenging the Bombay High Court judgment convicting him in the 2013 rape case and sentencing him to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment.
A Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Prasanna B. Varale sought a response from the State of Goa after hearing senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Tejpal, who informed the top court that his client had surrendered pursuant to the Supreme Court’s earlier direction.
Sibal sought an early date for hearing, submitting that the Bombay High Court had suspended the sentence.
The Justice Sundresh-led Bench said it would assign a date for hearing the matter. As per the case status reflected on the official website of the apex court, the matter has been tentatively listed for October 15, with the notice made returnable on that date.
On September 14, Tejpal surrendered before the Additional Sessions Court at Mapusa in Goa and was subsequently taken to Central Jail at Colvale in North Goa to begin serving his 10-year sentence.
Earlier, on August 25, the Supreme Court had rejected Tejpal’s plea seeking exemption from surrender and directed him to surrender within two weeks.
A single-judge Bench of Justice Alok Aradhe had made it clear that his appeal against the conviction and sentence would be heard on merits only after he surrendered and filed the surrender certificate.
On August 6, the Bombay High Court had set aside Tejpal’s acquittal by a sessions court and convicted him of rape and other offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
A Division Bench of Justices Neela Gokhale and Amit Jamsandekar subsequently sentenced him to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment and granted him time to surrender.
Tejpal was convicted under Sections 376(2)(f) and 376(2)(k) (rape), 354A (sexual harassment) and 354B (assault or use of criminal force against a woman with intent to disrobe) of the IPC.
The case stems from allegations by a junior colleague that Tejpal sexually assaulted her inside an elevator of a luxury hotel in Goa during an event in November 2013.
The Goa Police registered an FIR against Tejpal for offences including rape, following which he was arrested in November 2013 after a local court rejected his anticipatory bail plea.
The Supreme Court granted him regular bail in July 2014. In May 2021, the sessions court had acquitted Tejpal, holding that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt and referring to alleged lapses in the investigation.
The Goa government subsequently challenged the acquittal before the Bombay High Court. The Goa government has also moved the Supreme Court seeking enhancement of Tejpal’s 10-year rigorous imprisonment sentence imposed by the High Court.
