Ex-Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal surrenders before Goa court after 2013 sexual assault conviction

In August, the top court called in Tejpal to surrender before the court after he was convicted in a 2013 rape and sexual assault case.

Tarun Tejpal, former editor-in-chief of Tehelka magazine, surrendered before the North Goa Sessions Court in Mapusa on Monday and was taken into custody to begin serving his 10-year rigorous imprisonment at the central jail located at Colvale in North Goa.

On August 6, the Goa bench of the Bombay high court convicted Tejpal of rape and sexual assault. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison. (ANI )

Tejpal was convicted on two counts of rape after a junior colleague alleged that he had forced himself on her while in a lift at a hotel in Goa back in 2013, where the magazine was organising its annual ‘Think’ festival. The high court, in overturning the lower court's acquittal, sentenced Tejpal to ten years' rigorous imprisonment.

Tejpal's plea for exemption from surrendering while his appeal is heard was rejected by the Supreme Court. A subsequent petition to delay surrender on the ground that Monday was a public holiday was also rejected by the North Goa sessions court.

“I just want to say we are in the Supreme Court and are sure that justice will come,” Tejpal said as he was taken into custody.

The Bombay High Court at Goa, in early August, found Tejpal guilty of raping a junior colleague at a hotel in Goa back in 2013 and overturned the trial court’s acquittal.

The order, pronounced by a High Court bench of Justices Neela Gokhale and Amit Jamsandekar pronounced Tejpal guilty under sections 376(2) (f) (rape of a woman by her relative, guardian or teacher of, or a person in a position of trust or authority), 376(2)(k) (rape of a woman by a person in a position of control or dominance), section 354A (sexual harassment), 354B (criminal assault with intent to disrobe a woman) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The high court sentenced him to ten years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of ₹5-lakh each for the convictions under section 376(2) of the IPC. Under section 354 he has been sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of ₹10,000. For the conviction under section 354A, he has been sentenced to imprisonment for one year, under section 354B, he has been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of three years and pay a fine of ₹10,000.

Under sections 341 and 342 of the IPC, he has been fined ₹500 each. The sentences will run concurrently, meaning Tejpal will spend a maximum of ten years in prison, which is the minimum sentence under the law.