Tehelka founder-editor Tarun Tejpal surrendered before a Goa court on Monday after the Supreme Court refused to grant him relief in connection with a 2013 sexual assault case involving a junior colleague.
Tejpal appeared before the Mapusa court weeks after the Bombay High Court overturned his acquittal by the trial court and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
The High Court had directed Tejpal to surrender within two weeks, following which the journalist approached the Supreme Court seeking an exemption from surrender on the ground that his appeal should first be listed and heard.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Tejpal, argued that the Court has the power to dispense with the requirement of surrender in an appropriate case and list the criminal appeal even where the accused has not surrendered.
The top court, however, rejected his plea. The court further directed that, if the surrender certificate is furnished, Tejpal's appeal against the Bombay HC judgement be listed on September 22.
A division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justices Neela Gokhale and Amit Jamsandekar convicted Tejpal 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.
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 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.
