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SC reserves order on Tarun Tejpal’s discharge plea in sexual assault case
The court was hearing a case in which a former colleague accused Tarun Tejpal of sexually assaulting her at a 5-star hotel in Goa in 2013.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its order on journalist Tarun Tejpal’s request to discharge him of charges in a case in which a former colleague accused him of sexually assaulting at a five-star hotel in Goa during an event in 2013.
During the arguments, however, the judges pointed out to Tejpal’s lawyer that the allegations levelled against him were serious in nature, and also wondered if the charges were fabricated (as Tejpal contended) why did Tejpal apologise to the woman in an email after the alleged incident.
“If this narration [of the complainant] is believed to be correct, then nobody on this earth can discharge you,” a bench of justices Arun Mishra, MR Shah and SR Gavai commented after Tejpal’s lawyer, senior advocate Vikas Singh, read out the complainant’s statement recorded before a magistrate. Singh contended that the allegations were incorrect, and justified his stance by making references to the conduct of the complainant after the alleged incident.
“If nothing had happened, you would not have sent apologies. Something inappropriate must have happened,” remarked justice Mishra, who heads the bench. The judges also felt the points raised by Singh were Tejpal’s defence during the trial. “How can the she [complainant] be disbelieved and this is not the stage to consider all this,” the judges told Singh when said the charges were prima facie false.
Tejpal is currently on bail and has approached the top court against the Goa high court’s refusal to discharge him. The trial in the case, which is going on in a local court in Goa, was put on hold after Tejpal moved Supreme Court.
Singh urged the court to view the CCTV footage of the hotel lobby to verify the sequence of events as described by the complainant. But the bench was unwilling to go into the merits of the case. While reserving the verdict, the judges clarified they would not comment on the evidence in the case.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Goa Police in this matter, refuted Tejpal’s contentions and said the arguments were meant for the trial. “The trial is yet to take place. There are ample materials in the form of contemporaneous emails,” said Mehta.
