Investigative journalist and the former editor of Tehelka magazine, Tarun Tejpal, was on Thursday, August 6, sentenced to ten years of rigorous imprisonment by Bombay High Court’s Goa Bench, which overturned his 2021 acquittal and held him guilty of raping one of his young, junior colleagues.
The alleged crime took place in Goa in November 2013 during the ThinkFest event organised by Tehelka magazine, then an iconic publication known for investigative news reports. Tejpal was the founding editor of Tehelka magazine, known more widely by its website’s name of Tehelka.com.
The complainant alleged that 63-year-old Tejpal, also a noted novelist, assaulted the colleague inside a hotel elevator on two consecutive days, leading to his arrest later that month. In 2017, he was formally charged under multiple sections of Indian Penal Code, including rape and wrongful confinement, but pleaded not guilty. Supreme Court of India refused to quash the charges and directed that the trial be expedited.
In May 2021, the Mapusa sessions court acquitted Tejpal, citing lack of evidence and pointing to messages exchanged between him and the complainant that it claimed did not reflect trauma. Goa government then challenged the acquittal, arguing that the order was perverse and failed to appreciate the evidence presented.
Senior police officer Sunita Sawant, who led the investigation, welcomed the high court’s ruling, noting that the trial court had relied on flawed reasoning.
A division bench of Justices Neela Gokhale and Amit Jamsandekar delivered the judgment after hearing detailed arguments. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the state, contended that the trial court had erred by judging the complainant’s conduct against preconceived notions of how a survivor should behave.
Mehta emphasized that there is no universal standard for victim responses and criticised the lower court for relying on stereotypes, including its observation that the complainant’s professional demeanour after the incident undermined her claims. The high court agreed, stating that the sessions court had wrongly relied on assumptions about an “ideal” victim.
After the conviction, the solicitor general pressed for immediate arrest, stressing that Tejpal had betrayed his position of trust and authority. He argued that the case must send a clear message that refusal must be respected.
Tejpal, meanwhile, addressed the court after his conviction, claiming he was a victim of political vendetta and requesting leniency. He told journalists that he would appeal to Supreme Court of India, citing his age and family responsibilities.
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With the high court’s order, Tejpal has been directed to surrender within two weeks, marking a decisive turn in a case that has spanned more than a decade and drawn national attention to workplace safety and judicial accountability. 
