Tarun Tejpal sought leniency from the court, citing his age and family circumstances, as the state pressed for the maximum punishment and said the sentence should send a clear message that “no means no.”
“I am 62 and I believe I am a victim,” Tejpal told the court during the hearing. “I have a wife and that’s not much else to say. All that I can say is we can go and appeal. Please be lenient with me. The rest of the facts are placed on record,” as reported by NDTV.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state, urged the court to impose the maximum punishment. He argued that Tejpal had continued advancing despite the woman refusing him.
“Despite the victim, a girl of his daughter’s age, saying no, he committed an offence,” Mehta told the court. He said Tejpal was a father figure and should not have behaved in such a manner. Mehta said the woman had refused Tejpal, but he continued advancing on two subsequent days.
“A precedent must be set,” he said. “This court must give out a clear message to society that when a girl says no, it means no. A no means a no.”
Justice Gokhale asked whether any other case had been registered against Tejpal. Responding to the court, Tejpal’s counsel said there had been no previous first information report, complaint or allegation of bad behaviour against him. “Milords, there has been no FIR, complaint or bad behaviour,” the counsel said.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday convicted former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal on charges of rape in a 2013 sexual assault case and set aside a sessions court order acquitting him. A bench of Justices Neela Gokhale and Amit Jamsandekar of the HC’s Goa bench said it would pronounce its order on sentencing in the afternoon.
Tejpal has been convicted under sections 376 (2)(f) (person who is a guardian or in a position of trust or authority rapes a woman), 354 (a) (sexual harassment) and 354 (b) (using criminal force on a woman with an intent to disrobe her) of the Indian Penal Code. Under section 376, Tejpal faces a minimum punishment of ten years and a maximum of life imprisonment.
The case relates to allegations by a former junior colleague that the veteran journalist sexually assaulted her inside a hotel elevator during the ThinkFest event in Goa in November 2013. After he was acquitted by the trial court in 2021, the Goa government challenged the verdict.
(with inputs from PTI)
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