Tehelka's Tarun Tejpal, booked for allegedly raping a colleague
Union law minister Kapil Sibal today denied owning a single share in the Tehelka magazine and dared BJP's Sushma Swaraj to name him as the"minister" she alleged was shielding the magazine's founder Tarun Tejpal, who has been booked for rape.
Mr Sibal accused the BJP of getting back at him for targeting Narendra Modi, their Prime Ministerial candidate for 2014. "The person who says I'm shielding Tejpal should have the courage to name me. I have been attacking Modi so the BJP is targeting me and my family," he said.
Ms Swaraj had tweeted this morning, without naming him, "Union Cabinet Minister who is the founder and patron of Tehelka is shielding Tarun Tejpal."
Mr Tejpal, 50, has been accused of sexually assaulting a younger colleague at a Goa hotel where the magazine had organised an event earlier this month.
In his petition to the Delhi high court for anticipatory bail, Mr Tejpal alleged that the investigation against him is the result of "the wrath of the BJP" which is avenging earlier Tehelka exposes on some of its top leaders.
The Congress has also questioned what it saw as Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's alacrity in ordering a probe the day after the journalist's email to Tehelka's managing editor Shoma Chaudhury was leaked.
Congress minister Jayanthi Natarajan told NDTV, "While I'm on the side of the journalist, I also want to point out, this is nothing but politics. Is this how the Goa Chief Minister tracks every rape case?"
Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley refuted allegations of a political motive in the case. "The venue of offense is selected by the person who commits the offense. My party has nothing to do with it," he said.