Now Reading: Bombay HC Convicts Tarun Tejpal, Awards 10 Years in Prison
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Bombay HC Convicts Tarun Tejpal, Awards 10 Years in Prison
The Bombay High Court on Thursday convicted former Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal in the 2013 rape and sexual assault case, overturning his 2021 acquittal by a Mapusa trial court. The Goa bench…
The Story in Brief
The Bombay High Court on Thursday convicted former Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal in the 2013 rape and sexual assault case, overturning his 2021 acquittal by a Mapusa trial court. The Goa bench sentenced him to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposed fines totalling Rs 10.1 lakh, payable to the survivor. Tejpal has said he will challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court and has four weeks to surrender.
In its 81-page judgment, the bench of Justices Neela Gokhale and Amit S Jamsandekar called the acquittal “perverse”. It rejected the idea that a survivor must behave like a “perfect victim”, and found her testimony reliable and supported by other evidence. The court also criticised invasive cross-examination focused on her personal life, and considered apology emails and CCTV footage from outside the hotel lift.
The Indian Opinion
Claims that the verdict is simply political vendetta ignore the court’s stated reasons, including testimony, emails and corroborative footage. The opposite shortcut, that every defence challenge is automatically harassment, is also too broad. Courts must test evidence firmly while keeping a survivor’s private life from becoming the real trial. The Supreme Court’s examination of the evidence and the final conviction will be the concrete test of this ruling.
Sources (6): rediff.com, rediff.com (2), telanganatoday.com, timesofindia.indiatimes.com, timesnownews.com, timesnownews.com (2)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 6 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 6 sources.
