PANAJI
The Bombay High Court at Goa has issued a notice, returnable on June 24, to Tarun Tejpal, who is accused of raping a junior colleague in the lift of a five-star hotel in Goa in November 2013.
Noting that there was “a prima facie case for consideration of leave to appeal under Section 378 of the Criminal Procedure Code” the Judge S C Gupte ordered that notice be issued to the respondent “returnable on 24.06.2021.”
“The registry to also call for record and proceedings of the sessions case from the District & Sessions Court at Panaji,” Judge S C Gupte, said.
The case on the prosecution side was argued by the Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta who argued that “the entire judgement proceeds as if the victim is on trial.”
Justice Gupte in brief remarks during the hearing muttered that the judgement “appears to provide a manual on how rape victims should behave.”
The Goa government has filed the appeal arguing that “the trial court in its 527-page-judgment has been influenced by extraneous inadmissible materials and testimonies, graphic details of the past sexual history of the victim, prohibited by law and has used the same for purposes of censuring her character, and discrediting her evidence.”
“The entire judgment focusses on indicting the complainant witness rather than trying to ascertain the culpable role of the Respondent accused,” the appeal has said.
