PANAJI
The Bombay High Court at Goa will pass orders on the State government’s leave to challenge the verdict of the trial court that acquitted former editor of Tehelka magazine Tarun Tejpal who is accused of raping a junior colleague during a conclave held at a hotel in Goa back in 2013.
The application seeking leave to appeal against an order of a lower court is the first stage before the appeal can be heard by the High Court.
While the Goa government who is represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, Adv Amit Desai opposed the application claiming that the order, though unpalatable by the prosecution, wasn’t necessarily a miscarriage of justice.
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.
Earlier, the Bombay High Court at Goa had rejected Tejpal’s plea for an in-camera hearing of the appeal put forth by Tejpal.
