Tehelka's Tarun Tejpal, booked for allegedly sexually assaulting a journalist
Tarun Tejpal, the founder of Tehelka who has been accused of raping a younger colleague by the Goa Police, has said to court that what transpired was "a meeting" with "only light hearted bantering."
He has also alleged that the investigation against him is the result of "the wrath of the BJP leaders" which is avenging earlier Tehelka exposes on some of its top leaders.
Mr Tejpal's newest version of events - offered in the Delhi High Court to support his request for anticipatory or pre-trial bail - sharply contradict his earlier account of what transpired in Goa at a Tehelka conference earlier this month.
In an email to the young woman last week, he wrote, "I apologize unconditionally for the shameful lapse of judgment that led me to attempt a sexual liaison with you on two occasions...despite your clear reluctance." However, in his request for bail, he now says, there was just one interaction between them.
The Delhi High Court will hear his request for bail tomorrow; it refused to grant him protection from being arrested till then.
The journalist at the centre of the case quit Tehelka yesterday accusing its managing Editor Shoma Chaudhary of trying to engineer a "cover-up."
The journalist has not pressed charges, but has agreed to cooperate with the Goa Police's investigation, which began after her email to Ms Chaudhary was leaked last week. In that note, the reporter detailed how Mr Tejpal had allegedly sexually assaulted her.
Mr Tejpal said in his request for bail that her complaint is false, and that this is proven by the fact that "she was at every party and social event through the conference and stayed out late into the night."