Team Herald
MAPUSA: Senior journalist Tarun Tejpal was on Thursday charged in a Mapusa court of raping his junior colleague during the Thinkfest in November 2013.
Charges in the case were framed two days after the High Court of Bombay at Goa rejected Tejpal’s petition to defer the proceeding in the lower court by one month.
Mapusa Additional and District Sessions Judge Vijaya Pol, on hearing submissions from the prosecution and defense, framed charges of rape, sexual harassment, wrongful restraint and other criminal offences against Tejpal.
Tejpal will now face trial under Sections 341, 342 (wrongful restraint), 354 (A) (sexual harassment), 354 (B) (assault or use of criminal force on a women), 376 (rape) sub section (2)(f) (person in position of trust or authority over women, committing rape of such women) and 376 (2)(k) (rape of a woman by a person being in position of control or dominance over the women). Tejpal has pleaded not guilty.
Special Public Prosecutor Francisco Tavora said the trial of the case will commence once the proceedings are completed on November 21.
The former editor has used a legal remedy by approaching the High Court on September 26 saying the lower court has abdicated its jurisdiction, and the case is not fit for trial. The High Court will hear his appeal on November 1.
Counsel for Tejpal, Advocate Rajeev Gomes pleaded before the Mapusa court to put the trial on hold as a petition challenging the framing of charges is already pending before the High Court at Goa.
“If the High Court discharges the client from the charges then there is no use of this explanation. Prosecution failed to submit many documents on time which has cause delay of trial. The CCTV footage submitted contradicts to the version given by the victim. We still have two courts – High Court as well as Supreme Court – for relief,” he said.
The judge rejected the plea and allowed the framing of charges against Tejpal, who pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.
Tejpal had earlier petitioned the High Court pleading to stall the framing of the charge by the trial court while contending that allegations by the complainant are false.
He pointed at the victim’s allegation about the sexual assault in the hotel lift and the CCTV footage where she walks out ‘happily’. He submitted to the High Court that both situations do not corroborate.
In November 2013, a woman journalist working in Tehelka had accused the magazine’s founder of sexual assault inside an elevator of a five-star hotel during the Thinkfest conference. The complainant then quit her job while Tejpal too stepped aside. The police said the CCTV footage from the hotel had corroborated her claims and submitted the evidence before the fast-track court accusing him of committing the crime on the woman twice.
