Tehelka founder Tarun Tejpal goes to Supreme Court against rape case conviction

Former Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal on Thursday approached the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court’s verdict convicting him in the 2013 rape case involving a junior colleague, days after the High Court sentenced him to 10 years in prison.

On August 6, the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court overturned Tejpal’s acquittal by a trial court and convicted him of raping his colleague during an official event in Panaji in 2013. The court subsequently sentenced him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.

Tejpal’s appeal comes shortly after the Goa government also moved the Supreme Court seeking an enhancement of his sentence. The state has argued that the 10-year prison term is inadequate and sought life imprisonment for the former editor.

The case dates back to November 2013, when a junior female colleague accused then editor-in-chief of Tehelka of sexually assaulting her inside a hotel elevator in Goa during the magazine’s Think festival. Tejpal, 62, denied the allegations and maintained that he was a “political victim”.

Tejpal was acquitted by the Goa trial court in 2021. However, the High Court found him guilty of rape and other offences and sentenced him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for each of the two aggravated rape charges, with the sentences to run concurrently.

The High Court strongly criticised the trial court judgment, describing it as “perverse” and observing that it appeared to have proceeded on the assumption that a survivor of sexual assault must behave like a “perfect victim” to be considered credible.

The High Court also took exception to the manner in which the defence cross-examined the survivor, noting that she was subjected to nearly 1,000 pages of questioning. It said the defence sought to “harass and humiliate her and portray her as a woman of loose morals”.

The Goa government subsequently approached the Supreme Court seeking enhancement of Tejpal’s sentence to life imprisonment. It argued that the 10-year sentence was “grossly disproportionate” to the gravity of the offences and that the sentences for the two separate assaults should not have been ordered to run concurrently.

Tejpal has now challenged his conviction before the Supreme Court. The High Court had initially directed him to surrender within two weeks, but later extended the period to four weeks following a request from his lawyers.

– Ends

Published By:

Karishma Saurabh Kalita

Published On:

Aug 20, 2026 12:11 IST