In a major setback to former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal, the Bombay High Court on Thursday convicted him in a 2013 sexual assault case filed by his junior colleague and set aside the sessions court order that had acquitted him. The Goa bench of the high court, comprising Justices Neela Gokhale and Amit Jamsandekar, said it would pronounce the order on sentencing in the afternoon.

In a major setback to former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal, the Bombay High Court on Thursday convicted him in a 2013 sexual assault case filed by his junior colleague and set aside the sessions court order that had acquitted him. The Goa bench of the high court, comprising Justices Neela Gokhale and Amit Jamsandekar, said it would pronounce the order on sentencing in the afternoon.

In a major setback to former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal, the Bombay High Court on Thursday convicted him in a 2013 sexual assault case filed by his junior colleague and set aside the sessions court order that had acquitted him. The Goa bench of the high court, comprising Justices Neela Gokhale and Amit Jamsandekar, said it would pronounce the order on sentencing in the afternoon.

In a major setback to former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal, the Bombay High Court on Thursday convicted him in a 2013 sexual assault case filed by his junior colleague and set aside the sessions court order that had acquitted him.

The Goa bench of the high court, comprising Justices Neela Gokhale and Amit Jamsandekar, said it would pronounce the order on sentencing in the afternoon.

Tejpal has been convicted under Sections 376(2)(f) (rape by a person in a position of trust or authority), 354A (sexual harassment), and 354B (assault or use of criminal force with intent to disrobe a woman) of the Indian Penal Code. Under Section 376, he faces a minimum punishment of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Tejpal, who was present in court, sought leniency, claiming that he was a "political victim" and the father of two daughters.

Tejpal was arrested on November 30, 2013, after a woman journalist accused him of sexually assaulting her inside a hotel elevator earlier that month.

In 2017, the Goa sessions court framed charges against him under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including rape, sexual harassment, and wrongful confinement. Tejpal approached the Supreme Court but the top court refused to quash the charges and directed that the trial be completed within six months.

In 2021, the trial court acquitted Tejpal of all charges, observing that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

The Goa government subsequently challenged the acquittal before the Bombay High Court, seeking to have the trial court’s judgment set aside.