Goa to approach SC to modify Tarun Tejpal trial timelines in view of Covid-19
The Goa government will approach the Supreme Court to seek an extension in the timelines that the apex court had set for the completing the trial of disgraced former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal.
With the trial court under instructions to complete the case by December this year and keen to secure the presence of the complainant whose inability to be present in Court for cross examination is holding up the progress of the trial, the court had issued a bailable warrant to secure her presence in court.
The victim then approached the High Court seeking the suspension of the warrant, which was granted as interim relief.
“Unless the petitioner approaches the Apex Court and seeks extension of time fixed earlier, there is nothing much either this Court or the trial Court could do,” the High Court observed.
The prosecutor assured the Court that the State has been making all efforts to approach the Apex Court and get the time frame relaxed or refixed—at the earliest.
“As seen from the record, 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 SupremeCourt. 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 said.
The victim has been facing problems to come down to Goa from Delhi during the pandemic. She has also pleaded that she has been suffering from a respiratory infection and is very prone to any health hazards if she undertakes the journey under these circumstances.
The victim had earlier approached the court seeking cancellation of the bailable warrant citing health as her reason.