Tarun Tejpal challenges rape conviction, SC seeks Goa govt response

Tejpal surrendered before a Goa court on September 14

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Goa government on a plea filed by former Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal challenging the Bombay high court judgment convicting him in a 2013 sexual assault case and sentencing him to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment.The bench sought the state’s response on Tejpal’s challenge to the August 6 High Court verdict, which overturned his acquittal by a trial court in May 2021. The high court had convicted him of sexually assaulting a junior colleague inside a hotel elevator in Goa in November 2013 and also imposed a fine of more than Rs 10 lakh, to be paid to the survivor.Tejpal surrendered before a Goa court on September 14 after the Supreme Court directed him to do so within three weeks. He was subsequently sent to Central Jail at Colvale in North Goa to serve his sentence.