PANAJI
The Bombay High Court at Goa on Wednesday has kept the hearing arguments on the maintainability of the plea filed by the State against the acquittal of former editor of Tehelka magazine Tarun Tejpal for November 16.
The High Court has said it was not to consider Tejpal’s plea that the hearings be held in-camera “at this stage” but instead suggested that the counsel for the petitioners should avoid reading out sensitive portions of the trial court judgement and should file written submissions instead.
Tejpal’s advocate Amit Desai has challenged the maintainability of the plea filed by the State alleging that the procedure laid down by section 378 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was bypassed by the government in its hurry to file an appeal.
The matter will be considered next on November 16.
The former editor of Tehelka magazine was accused of raping a junior colleague in an elevator of a five-star hotel in Goa during the THiNK festival in November 2013. The complainant alleged that Tejpal had raped her in a lift in the hotel on November 7 and attempted to assault her again on November 8. Tejpal, who refuted the charges in court, was acquitted by the fast-track court on May 21.
The judge in her judgement gave Tejpal, who is facing charges of sections 376 (rape), 354A (sexual harassment), 354B (criminal assault with intent to disrobe a woman), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code, the benefit of the doubt and acquitted him on account of lack of sufficient evidence.
