The Goa government has approached the Supreme Court seeking an enhancement of the 10-year rigorous imprisonment sentence awarded to former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal in the 2013 rape case.
The move comes days after the Bombay High Court’s Goa bench overturned Tejpal’s acquittal by a trial court and convicted him of sexually assaulting a junior colleague at a luxury resort in Goa. The High Court, in its August 6 verdict, sentenced the 63-year-old journalist to 10 years in prison and directed him to surrender before the Goa Police within four weeks.
Tejpal, meanwhile, has challenged his conviction before the Supreme Court. The two proceedings will now bring both his conviction and the quantum of punishment under the apex court’s scrutiny.
The case dates back to November 2013, when a junior employee of Tehelka accused Tejpal of sexually assaulting her inside a hotel elevator at a Goa resort during the magazine’s annual Thinkfest event.
The allegations triggered a major controversy at the time, given Tejpal’s position as the founder and editor of Tehelka. He was subsequently booked under multiple provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including those relating to rape, assault or criminal force against a woman, and sexual harassment.
A trial court acquitted Tejpal in 2021. The prosecution challenged that verdict, eventually leading to the High Court’s intervention.
In overturning the acquittal, the Bombay High Court described the trial court’s judgment as “perverse” and criticised its assessment of the complainant’s testimony. The High Court particularly rejected the expectation that a survivor must conform to the image of a “perfect victim” in order to be considered credible.
The High Court imposed two separate 10-year sentences under Sections 376(2)(f) and 376(2)(k) of the IPC, accompanied by fines of Rs 5 lakh under each provision.
Tejpal was also sentenced to one year of imprisonment and fined Rs 10,000 under Section 354. He received another one-year sentence under Section 354A, while Section 354B carried a three-year prison term.
All the sentences have been ordered to run concurrently. Consequently, the maximum period Tejpal would serve under the High Court’s order is 10 years.
The detailed reasoning behind the conviction was not immediately made available, with the court’s detailed judgment awaited.
Tejpal seeks relief from Supreme Court
Tejpal moved the Supreme Court soon after the High Court convicted him, seeking suspension of the conviction and time to challenge the verdict.
During the sentencing proceedings before the High Court, Tejpal sought leniency, citing his age and family circumstances. He told the court that he was 62 and had a wife, while urging that he be given an opportunity to appeal against the verdict.
His counsel, senior advocate Aabad Ponda, sought an eight-week period before Tejpal was required to surrender, arguing that the case was nearly 13 years old and that Tejpal had no other criminal case or FIR against him.
The High Court, however, granted him four weeks to surrender before the Goa Police, allowing him time to pursue his legal remedies before the Supreme Court.
The Goa government’s latest plea seeks a tougher sentence and will now be considered alongside Tejpal’s challenge to the conviction.
The legal battle that began with allegations inside a Goa hotel elevator in 2013 has thus entered another crucial stage, with the Supreme Court now set to consider the competing challenges arising from the High Court’s verdict.
