PANAJI
The Supreme Court of India has granted time until March 31, 2021 to complete the trial against disgraced former editor of Tehelka magazine Tarun Tejpal after the State government approached it seeking further time.
SC had earlier directed that the trial be completed by this year.
Faced with the deadline by SC, the trial court at Mapusa, had issued a bailable warrant to the victim girl whose cross examination was underway when the lockdown resulted in a cessation of hearings.
The application has been filed for extension of time for completion of the trial. The time to complete the trial is extended till 31.03.2021,” the Supreme Court bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and M R Shah, said.
Earlier the Bombay High Court at Goa said the deadline left the trial court in a predicament which perhaps prompted the issuance of the bailable warrant against the victim.
“The trial Court is in a predicament. It has been tasked with completing the trial in this case in a time-frame: by December 2020. And that time-frame was fixed by the Supreme Court. So we cannot blame the trial Court for the procedure it has adopted and the directions it issued to secure the presence of the petitioner -- the victim and principal witness,” the High Court single bench of Justice Dama Seshadri Naidu had said.
The victim had approached the Bombay High Court at Goa seeking the cancellation of the bailable warrant against her and expressed her inability to travel during the pandemic on account of health issues.
