Tarun Tejpal Surrenders Before Goa Court After Top Court Order In Rape Case

Tarun Tejpal, a celebrated former editor-in-chief of an equally celebrated news magazine Tehelka, surrendered before the Mapusa court in Goa on Monday in a 2013 rape case as directed by the Supreme Court.

The top court had given the 63-year-old former editor three weeks to surrender before his appeal against the conviction is taken up for hearing. The three-week deadline ends tomorrow. 

The Goa bench of the Bombay High Court on August 6 convicted Tejpal and sentenced him to 10 years in prison for raping a former colleague in 2013, overturning his 2021 acquittal in the case. Tejpal maintains he is a victim. 

Last month, the Supreme Court rejected Tejpal's plea seeking exemption from surrendering before his plea filed against the Bombay High Court judgment convicting him is listed in the top court.

Tejpal had sought exemption from surrendering on the ground that his appeal should first be listed and heard by the Supreme Court. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Tejpal, argued that the top court has the power to dispense with the requirement of surrender in an appropriate case and list the criminal appeal even where the accused has not surrendered.

Under Supreme Court rules, one is required to surrender before challenging a conviction order. A surrender certificate must be submitted, say rules

Solicitor General of India (SGI) Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state of Goa, opposed the plea and submitted that the exemption application had to be considered in light of the merits of the case. He relied on the findings of the Bombay High Court and submitted that the case involved an aggravated offence of rape for which Tejpal had been sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.