- Tarun Tejpal challenged Bombay High Court’s 10-year rape conviction sentence in Supreme Court
- Goa government sought life imprisonment, arguing 10 years was the minimum sentence imposed
- High Court cited 13 years elapsed and both parties moved on as reasons for minimum sentence
Tarun Tejpal, a journalist who was convicted of rape and sentenced to 10 years in jail, has approached the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court's order.
According to officials, Tejpal also challenged the 10-year jail term.
Earlier this week, the Goa government had moved the Supreme Court seeking an enhanced sentence for Tejpal, contending that the case warrants imprisonment for life. It said that the Bombay High Court "imposed only the minimum sentence of 10 years' rigorous imprisonment for each of the two aggravated rape convictions, with the sentences directed to run concurrently".
"The high court, inter alia, relied upon the fact that 13 years had elapsed since the commission of the offences and that both the victim and the respondent had moved on with their lives, while imposing the minimum sentence and directing the sentences to run concurrently. Such reasoning is untenable," it said.
The petition mentioned that the passage of time cannot operate to the benefit of the offender or become a premium for the delay in the administration of justice, particularly at the cost of the victim.
Tejpal is accused of assaulting a former junior colleague inside the elevator of a five-star hotel during an event in Goa on November 7 and November 8, 2013. He was arrested nearly 22 days later, following which he stepped down as the editor-in-chief of Tehelka in the wake of sexual assault allegations.
He faced the trial under sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), 354 (assault or criminal force with intent to outrage modesty), 354-A (sexual harassment), 354-B (assault or use of criminal force to a woman with intent to disrobe), 376(2)(f) (person in a position of authority over women, committing rape) and 376(2)(k) (rape by a person in a position of control) of the then Indian Penal Code.
In July 2014, Tejpal was granted bail.
Later in 2021, a trial court in Goa acquitted him of all charges levelled against him, including wrongful confinement, assault or criminal force with intent to outrage modesty, sexual harassment, and rape against his female colleague, following which the Goa government challenged the verdict.
The Bombay High Court, earlier this month, had termed the trial court's 2021 verdict of acquittal as "perverse".
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
