Goa bench reverses trial court’s 2021 verdict, finds former Tehelka editor guilty of assaulting a junior colleague during ThinkFest
The Bombay High Court’s Goa bench has convicted former Tehelka magazine editor Tarun Tejpal, 61, of raping a junior colleague in 2013, reversing a lower court’s acquittal from four years ago. Justices Neela Gokhale and Amit Jamsandekar delivered the verdict on Thursday, sentencing Tejpal to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.
The court convicted Tejpal under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, including rape, sexual harassment, and assault with intent to disrobe. Additional sentences for lesser charges will run concurrently with the main term, meaning Tejpal serves a total of 10 years, along with monetary fines. He has been given four weeks to challenge the ruling before the Supreme Court.
The case dates back to November 2013, when the complainant, a junior colleague, alleged that Tejpal assaulted her inside a hotel elevator during the ThinkFest event in Goa, with a second attempted assault the following day. A trial court acquitted Tejpal in May 2021, citing insufficient evidence and the absence of elevator camera footage.
The prosecution’s appeal, argued in part by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, contended that the trial court had unfairly scrutinized the survivor’s conduct rather than weighing the evidence against Tejpal, and had applied outdated assumptions about how assault victims are expected to behave. The defence had relied on CCTV footage, digital communications, and witness accounts to argue that the complainant’s continued participation in event activities was inconsistent with the allegations.
The 2013 case, which surfaced a year after the Delhi gang-rape that sparked nationwide protests, became a landmark moment in India’s conversation around workplace sexual harassment and the barriers survivors face in reporting it.
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