Now Reading: Bombay HC overturns Tejpal acquittal, convicts ex-editor of rape
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Bombay HC overturns Tejpal acquittal, convicts ex-editor of rape
The Bombay High Court on Thursday overturned a trial court's acquittal of former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal, convicting him of rape and sexual assault of a woman journalist in a hotel elevator…
The Story in Brief
The Bombay High Court on Thursday overturned a trial court's acquittal of former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal, convicting him of rape and sexual assault of a woman journalist in a hotel elevator in Goa in 2013. The High Court bench of Justices Neela Gokhale and Amit Jamsandekar termed the earlier judgment 'perverse' and a 'textbook case of how not to write a rape judgement.' The trial had taken six years to begin, and the survivor waited 13 years for this verdict. Tejpal has said he will appeal the conviction and his 10-year jail term.
The High Court sharply criticized the trial court for resorting to stereotypes about how a rape survivor should behave, noting that 'expecting a survivor to be constantly miserable, meek or visibly broken' is wrong. The judgment emphatically rejects the 'perfect victim' myth, stating that credibility must be evaluated on facts, not on whether a survivor fits a narrow cultural mould. The case is one of the first high-profile trials after amendments to criminal law following the 2012 Delhi gang-rape.
The Indian Opinion
The easily repeated narrative that justice is always delayed or denied for powerful men conveniently ignores the specific judicial reasoning here. The Bombay High Court didn't just reverse an acquittal; it dismantled an entire framework of victim-blaming embedded in the trial court's 527-page judgment. The real shock is not that Tarun Tejpal was finally convicted, it is that the earlier judge produced what the HC called a 'textbook case of how not to write a rape judgement.' The test now is whether the muscle of money and connections can still intimidate the survivor into silence during the appeal, or whether this verdict stands.
Source: hindustantimes.com
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