"Trial Is Concluded": SC Closes Plea For Time Extension In Tejpal Sexual Assault Case

Supreme Court on Tarun Tejpal: The apex court Monday closed a plea related to time extension in the case of the former Tehelka chief accused of sexual assault.

A Goa court acquitted Tejpal on May 21 in a case from 2013 where a woman colleague had accused him of raping her in the elevator of a five-star resort during an event. The court had earlier moved the SC seeking extension of time to complete the trial in the case.

Observing "the trial is concluded," a bench of justices Ashok Bhushan, Vineet Saran and MR Shah closed the plea saying an order on extension was not required since the Goa court had already delivered its verdict, as per PTI. More on the Tejpal verdict here. 

Supreme Court On Tarun Tejpal: A Look Back At The Case

In November 2013, a reporter alleged Tejpal had sexually assaulted her at a posh Goa resort during a Think event. Tejpal stepped down from his role as Tehelka editor and was subsequently arrested by Goa police the same month. In 2014, he made bail after the SC delivered an order. See timeline of the case here.

After a three-year gap, Tejpal's trial began in 2017. Trial saw delay between 2019 and 2020 owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Last year, the SC extended time till March 2021 for the trial to be completed. The date of a verdict in the Tejpal case was postponed multiple times, to finally be delivered on May 21.

The 500-page order passed by Judge Kshama Joshi in Goa had drawn mixed reaction, with gender activists and women journalists widely slamming it as a document that allegedly indicted the ">rape survivor over the assaulter.

An appeal seeking amendment in the verdict document that revealed details referencing the identity of the complainant was adjourned last week by the Bombay High Court, as per Live Law.