Bombay High Court’s Panaji bench has reserved its order on a petition submitted by Tarun Tejpal former editor-in-chief of Tehelka who is accused of raping a junior colleague at a resort in 2013.
Justice Nutan Sardesai did not specify a date when she reserved her order after hearing from the special public prosecutor Sarvesh Lotlikar who asked for the trial to begin.
Tejpal faces charges under several heads – Sections 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code, 341 (wrongful restraint), Section 354 (b) (criminal assault with intent to disrobe) and 342 (wrongful confinement).
Victim Not Distressed
Lawyers appearing for Tejpal, Aman Lekhi and Pramodkumar Dubey have argued that the CCTV footage obtained from the five star hotel showed that the accusations against Tejpal were false since no distress was visible in the victim’s body language, as she and Tejpal exited from the elevator, the site of the alleged offence.
Tejpal allegedly sexually assaulted a junior female colleague in the hotel’s elevator during an event being held in north Goa in November 2013. Tejpal was arrested subsequently but is currently out on bail.
In a previous hearing defence layers dismissed as “hearsay” the accounts provided by victim’s friends and family members to whom the victim had described the attack by Tejpal.
The lawyers stated that while rape was a “heinous crime”, it was “equally important” matter to slander the reputation of a married man with two children via false allegation
Lekhi played the camera footage to the judge highlighting that the victim’s body language in it was “natural evidence” in favour of Tejpal.
The prosecution in response asked the court to start the trial at the earliest.
Trial Will Enable Victim To Explain
Lotlikar said that the trial should start soon so that the victim can “explain her conduct. “ He further added that it was “far fetched” at this stage to discount her statement.
On December 6, the Supreme Court directed the additional District and Sessions court of north Goa to proceed with the trial, even as Tejpal’s lawyers filed an appeal with the high court to stay the same.
