Bombay HC overturns Tarun Tejpal’s acquittal, convicts him of rape

In a landmark win for workplace rights against sexual harassment, Tarun Tejpal, founder and former editor-in-chief of investigative news magazine Tehelka, was convicted by the Bombay High Court. He has been sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.The Goa Bench of the court on Thursday, August 6, convicted him for sexually assaulting a junior colleague in 2013, setting aside his acquittal by a Goa sessions court in 2021. His acquittal by the sessions court was heavily criticised for its sexist language and scrutiny of the survivor’s “behaviour”. The reversal of that order is seen as a strong message from the judiciary for women’s workplace rights.The Bombay High Court’s Division Bench, comprising Justice Neela Gokhale and Justice Amit Jamsandekar, found Tejpal guilty of rape and sexual harassment under Sections 376(2)(f), 376(2)(k), 354A and 354B of the Indian Penal Code. Tejpal, who was present in court, pleaded for leniency, stating that he is a “victim”.“I am 62, and I believe I am a victim. I have a wife, and that’s not much else to say. All that I can say is we can go and appeal. Please be lenient with me. The rest of the facts are placed on record,” he told the court, according to Live Law.  Opposing the plea, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that the case warranted a strong message from the judiciary.“Despite the victim being a girl of his daughter’s age, he committed an offence... He was a father figure [and] should not have indulged in this... This court must give out a clear message to society that when a girl says no, it means no. A no means a no,” Mehta submitted.The verdict marks a significant development in one of India’s most high-profile sexual assault cases involving a senior journalist. Tejpal, once regarded as one of the country’s most influential investigative editors, founded Tehelka in 2000. The magazine earned national prominence for a series of sting operations exposing corruption, including the 2001 ‘Operation West End’ defence bribery investigation. Tejpal himself was widely seen as a leading figure in Indian journalism before the allegations against him surfaced in 2013.It was alleged that Tejpal had sexually assaulted the young journalist employed at Tehelka, inside a hotel elevator on November 7 and 8, 2013, during the magazine’s annual ThinkFest event in Goa.However, in May 2021, a Sessions Court in Goa acquitted Tejpal, ruling that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. The judgement attracted widespread criticism for being sexist after the trial court relied heavily on the complainant’s conduct after the alleged assault, observing that she “did not demonstrate any kind of normative behaviour” that a victim of sexual assault “might plausibly show.”Challenging the acquittal, the Goa government argued before the High Court that the Sessions Court had effectively put the survivor on trial instead of examining the evidence against Tejpal. Representing the State, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta contended that the trial court ignored crucial evidence, including an apology email sent by Tejpal to the complainant after she reported the incident to Tehelka’s then managing editor.A detailed copy of the judgement is yet to be released.