Tarun Tejpal was accused of sexually abusing his female colleague. He was acquitted last year.
New Delhi:
Journalist Tarun Tejpal today moved the Supreme Court to the Supreme Court to get an on-camera hearing of the appeal in the rape case after his plea was rejected by the Bombay Supreme Court, where he argued that the identity of the accused was similar important to protect in his case.
His plea will be heard tomorrow by a bench made up of Judge L Nageswara Rao and Judge BR Gavai.
On November 24 last year, the Bombay HC had rejected his plea for an on-camera hearing of the proceedings challenging his acquittal in the 2013 rape case. Mr Tejpal had argued that in an appeal against the acquittal, the identity of the accused is as important to be protected as that of the victim
Tarun Tejpal, former editor-in-chief of ‘Tehelka’ magazine, was accused of sexually assaulting his female colleague in the elevator of a five-star hotel in Goa in November 2013. In May 2021, he was acquitted by a trial court in Goa.
In the acquittal, the judge had commented extensively on the woman’s behavior and the lack of investigation in the case, in order to give Mr Tejpal the benefit of the doubt. The judge had said the rape victim was not behaving that way.
At the time of his acquittal, Mr Tejpal had thanked the court for “a rigorous, impartial and fair trial” in the case and said the past seven and a half years had been traumatic for his family dealing with “the catastrophic consequences.” of the false charges against him”.
The acquittal was later challenged by the Goa government in the Goa bank of the Bombay HC.
The state government had said the court’s verdict was “colored by prejudice and patriarchy”.
