The Supreme Court has rejected journalist Tarun Tejpal's request to avoid surrendering for his 10-year prison sentence in a 2013 rape case, mandating his surrender within two weeks and scheduling his appeal for September 22. This comes after the Bombay High Court overturned his prior acquittal. The court stipulated that his criminal appeal cannot proceed without resolving his surrender exemption.

The Supreme Court has rejected journalist Tarun Tejpal's request to avoid surrendering for his 10-year prison sentence in a 2013 rape case, mandating his surrender within two weeks and scheduling his appeal for September 22. This comes after the Bombay High Court overturned his prior acquittal. The court stipulated that his criminal appeal cannot proceed without resolving his surrender exemption.

The Supreme Court has rejected journalist Tarun Tejpal's request to avoid surrendering for his 10-year prison sentence in a 2013 rape case, mandating his surrender within two weeks and scheduling his appeal for September 22. This comes after the Bombay High Court overturned his prior acquittal. The court stipulated that his criminal appeal cannot proceed without resolving his surrender exemption.

The Supreme Court has rejected journalist Tarun Tejpal’s plea seeking exemption from surrendering to his sentence of 10 years' imprisonment on Monday for a 2013 rape case.

Tejpal has been directed to surrender within two weeks by a bench led by Justice Alok Aradhe.

He has also been ordered to furnish a surrender certificate and that his appeal be listed if it is filed on or before September 22.

The Supreme Court declined to list Tejpal’s criminal appeal without first deciding his plea for exemption from surrender, underlining that the exemption application had to be dealt with before the appeal could be listed.

In 2021, Tejpal was acquitted of all charges after he was accused of raping a former colleague in November 2013. A junior journalist accused Tejpal of sexually assaulting her in an elevator at a five-star hotel in Goa.

Tejpal was arrested and then pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The 5-year-old acquittal was overturned by a Goa bench of the Bombay High Court on August 6.

Tejpal, 63, challenged the High Court order, claiming he was a victim. He told the court that he was 62 years old and a father of two children. He also claimed he was being targeted for political reasons.

The Goa government then approached the top court seeking a sentence for Tejpal in the case.

The plea was rejected after the SC heard both the Goa government and Tarun Tejpal’s arguments.

The single-judge bench at the SC concluded that a criminal appeal filed by journalist Tarun Tejpal in the 2013 rape case cannot be listed for hearing without deciding his separate application seeking exemption from surrender.

A criminal appeal challenges the trial court's judgment of conviction, whereas a surrender appeal refers to the convicted person's appeal to be exempt from surrender.

The court also scheduled a hearing for Tejpal’s appeal against his conviction and sentencing on September 22.

Tarun Tejpal is the former editor of Tehelka.

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