Bombay HC refuses relief to Tarun Tejpal in rape case, allows framing of charges

The Mapusa additional district and sessions court had ordered on September 7 that charges be framed against Tejpal for allegedly raping a junior colleague.

The Goa bench of the Bombay high court on Tuesday refused to grant relief to Tarun Tejpal, the former editor-in-chief of Tehelka magazine, and allowed charges to be framed against him in a sexual assault case.

Former Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal was accused of sexually assaulting a female colleague in the elevator of a five-star hotel during an event at Goa in November 2013. (Reuters)

However, it also stayed trial proceedings against the embattled journalist until further notice.

The court was hearing a plea by Tejpal, challenging a Mapusa court order that directed police to frame charges against him. The judicial body said it would hear the accused before deciding on the trial, and fixed November 1 as the date for the same.

The Mapusa additional district and sessions court had ordered on September 7 that charges be framed against Tejpal for allegedly raping a junior colleague. The former Tehelka editor-in-chief proclaimed in his primary appeal that the charges of rape levelled against him are false, and accused the state of delaying the matter for three years.

“The final charges are 354(A), 354(B), 341, 342, 376(2)F, 376(2) K. Section 376 is not there. The court will frame the charges, and then we will examine the order and decide the next course of action,” Pramod Dubey, Tarun Tejpal’s lawyer, told HT.

In June, the Mapusa court had passed an order that restricted the media from covering the proceedings until completion of the trial.

Tejpal was accused of sexually assaulting a female colleague in the elevator of a five-star hotel during an event at Goa in November 2013. He stepped down from the post of Tehelka editor-in-chief after an FIR was filed against him.