The Bombay High Court’s Goa bench on Thursday convicted former Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal in the 2013 rape case, overturning a Goa sessions court’s 2021 verdict acquitting him of all charges.
The state government had challenged the acquittal, arguing that the trial court had relied on stereotypical assumptions about how a sexual assault survivor should behave.
A bench of Justice Dr Neela Gokhale and Justice Amit Jamsandekar reserved its verdict on July 30 after hearing final arguments over three days.
Case dates back to 2013 Thinkfest
The case stems from allegations made by a Tehelka woman journalist, who accused Tejpal of raping her inside an elevator at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Goa during the magazine’s annual Thinkfest event on November 7 and 8, 2013.
The allegations became public after emails exchanged between the complainant and Tejpal were leaked. Tejpal subsequently resigned as editor-in-chief and was arrested.
Trial and appeal
Tejpal was granted bail in July 2014, and the trial began in 2017. In May 2021, a Goa sessions court acquitted him of all charges, observing that the complainant had not displayed the “normative behaviour” expected of a sexual assault survivor.
The Goa government appealed the verdict before the Bombay High Court, which on Thursday set aside the acquittal and convicted Tejpal. The court is expected to pronounce the quantum of sentence later in the day.
