Mumbai: More than a decade after the case first broke, the Bombay High Court has found former Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal guilty of rape. The Goa bench, ruling on Thursday, set aside a 2021 Sessions Court verdict that had acquitted him, and convicted him instead a reversal that closes one chapter of a case that has dragged through India’s courts since 2013.
The bench of Justice Dr. Neela Gokhale and Justice Amit Jamsandekar was hearing an appeal filed by the Goa government against Tejpal’s earlier acquittal. They found him guilty on charges of rape and sexual harassment under Sections 376(2)(f) and 376(2)(k) of the IPC, along with Sections 354A and 354B. Sentencing is being heard separately, with the quantum of punishment expected to be pronounced at 2:30 pm.
The case goes back to November 2013, when a Tehelka employee accused Tejpal of raping her inside a hotel elevator during the magazine’s annual Thinkfest event in Goa. He was arrested that same month and spent time in judicial custody before being granted bail in 2014.
Tejpal Asks for Leniency, Solicitor General Pushes Back
As the hearing opened, Tejpal, now 62, made a personal appeal to the court. “I am 62, and I believe I am a victim. I have a wife, and that’s not much else to say. All that I can say is we can go and appeal. Please be lenient with me. The rest of the facts are placed on record,” he said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Goa government, wasn’t having it. He argued that Tejpal had abused a position of trust — the complainant was young enough to be his daughter, he said, and Tejpal, as a father figure to her, should never have crossed that line. Mehta pushed for the court to set a precedent, pointing out that the complainant had refused Tejpal’s advances, yet he pursued her again over the following two days regardless. His closing point was blunt: the court needed to send a clear message that no means no.
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Following the conviction, defense counsel Aabad Ponda asked the bench for leniency at sentencing, noting the offence dates back 13 years. He also requested an eight-week stay on the conviction order so Tejpal could appeal to the Supreme Court, given that this was a reversal of an acquittal.
How the Acquittal Was Overturned
Tejpal had actually walked free once already. A Sessions Court in Mapusa acquitted him on May 21, 2021, prompting the Goa government to appeal to the High Court. During that appeal, Mehta argued the trial court had leaned too heavily on assumptions about how a “typical” survivor should behave — pointing out there’s no single template for how someone responds to sexual assault, since reactions differ based on personality, upbringing, education, and circumstance.
Mehta also pointed to emails Tejpal sent the complainant after the alleged incident, in which he apologized for a “lapse of judgment” and expressed remorse. The prosecution’s argument: those emails amounted to an admission that something had happened between them.
The defense saw it differently. Senior Advocate Aabad Ponda maintained the apology emails never admitted to any physical or sexual encounter that they referred only to a consensual conversation of a sexual nature, and the prosecution had misread them. Ponda also went after the complainant’s credibility directly, arguing her behavior before and after the alleged assault, along with emails, WhatsApp messages, and other records, didn’t line up with the prosecution’s version of events. He further contended that her account of being trapped inside a moving elevator didn’t match expert testimony or the CCTV footage from the hotel.