As Goa High Court reserves its order, know about the 2013 sexual assault case against Tehelka’s Tarun Tejpal, and the ‘apology email’

On Thursday (30th July), the Goa High Court reserved its order on the appeal by the Goa Government against the acquittal of the former editor-in-chief of Tehelka, Tarun Tejpal, in the sexual assault case.   A bench of Justices Dr Neela Gokhale and Amit Jamsandekar focused on whether Tejpal’s apology email to the complainant and Tejpal’s journalist colleague amounted to an admission of the occurrence of a physical encounter.  The court reserved its order after hearing Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who represented the Goa Government, and advocate Abad Ponda, who represented the controversial journalist, Tarun Tejpal.   Back in 2021, Tarun Tejpal was acquitted by a Goa Sessions Court in the sexual assault case filed by his colleague. Tejpal’s acquittal, however, was challenged by the Goa government before the High Court.  During the High Court hearings, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta slammed the trial court’s decision, criticising its evaluation of the complainant woman’s conduct against preconceived notions of how a sexual assault survivor should behave.  “My primary objection is to the way in which the trial court has examined the entire matter as if it is setting down a model code of conduct on how the victim should behave and if the victim does not behave in this way, then it is not right,” Mehta said.  Mehta further argued that since the conduct of sexual assault survivors varies based on their social background, education levels, and circumstances, courts cannot reject allegations just because a complainant did not exhibit a stereotypical behaviour.  “The behaviour of a victim of molestation can be different based on the background they come from, their educational qualifications. One cannot say one’s behaviour is not like the other, so it is to be disbelieved,” Mehta said.  The Goa High Court has reserved its order after hearing arguments from both sides; however, it has not specified the date for the pronouncement of the verdict.  Background of the sexual assault case against Tarun Tejpal  Tarun Tejpal (full name Tarunjit Tejpal), the far-left journalist, was accused of forcing himself on a colleague against her wishes inside an elevator of the Grand Hyatt, Bambolim, Goa, on November 7, 2013, during a Tehelka magazine event.   The matter became public after several media houses published a leaked trail of emails exchanged between the woman, Tejpal and the managing editor of Tehelka, Shoma Chaudhary.    Tejpal had stepped down as editor six months after being accused of sexual assault to ‘recuse’ himself.  Tarun Tejpal was arrested in November 2013 and later released on bail in July 2014. Tejpal was charged under IPC Sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), 354 (sexual harassment), 354A(1)(I)(II)(demand for sexual favours), 354B (assault or use of criminal force to 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).  The trial against Tejpal began in 2017. Meanwhile, Tejpal had filed a petition in the Bombay High Court seeking dismissal of the case against him, claiming that the charges were fabricated. Both the High Court and the Supreme Court had also dismissed the plea in 2019.  When Goa High Court called the sessions court’s order acquitting Tarun Tejpal a “manual for rape victims”  It must be recalled that back in September 2021, the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court noted that the sessions court’s verdict read like a “manual for rape victims”. The High Court had said that the lower court’s order had described how a sexual assault survivor should or should not respond in such cases.  “The judgement goes into how she (survivor) responded. There are some observations on this. It is like a manual for rape victim. There is a prima facie case to consider the leave (permission) to appeal (against the acquittal). Issue notice to the respondent (Tarun Tejpal) returnable on June 24,” Justice S C Gupte had said.  Justice S C Gupte had also noted that the lower court’s judgment did not even include the prosecution’s case.  Highlighting the sessions court’s sheer lack of understanding of a sexual assault survivor’s post-trauma conduct, and attacks on her character, the BJP government in Goa had contended that the order warranted a retrial.  “(The court) considered the evidence given by defence witnesses as gospel truth, but at the same time discredited without any finding the evidence given by the victim and the prosecution witnesses,” the government said back then.  Tarun Tejpal’s ‘apology email’ to the sexual assault survivor  In late November 2013, Tehelka’s Tarun Tejpal had purportedly written an email to his journalist colleague who filed the sexual assault case against him.  In his purported email, Tejpal had admitted a “shameful lapse of judgement” that led him to attempt a sexual liaison with the survivor on two occasions.  “It wrenches me beyond describing, therefore, to accept that I have violated that long-standing relationship of trust and respect between us and I apologise unconditionally for the shameful lapse of judgement that led me to attempt a sexual liaison with you on two occasions on 7 November and 8 November 2013, despite your clear reluctance that you did not want such attention from me,” Tejpal wrote.  “…I know you feel I used my position as Editor, Tehelka to force my attention on you, and I acknowledge that I did at one point say to your contention that I was your boss, “That makes it simpler,” but I do want to put on record that the moment those words escaped my lips, I retracted them saying “I withdraw that straight away – no relationship of mine has anything at all, ever, to do with that,” it added.  Tejpal had reportedly described his alleged indulgence in sexual predation as a “moment of insanity”.  “I have often spoken for the absolute rights and freedoms of women, and it shames me beyond words, to find myself located in this awful context. I would say it was a moment of insanity, except that would mean evading responsibility for it, and that I will not do. I hold myself, first and last, accountable,” he purportedly wrote back in November 2013.  “In extreme contrition, I would like you to know that but for this unconscionable lapse, that man still exists and holds you in highest regard. If an apology can heal, please consider this an unconditional one,” he concluded.  Tarun Tejpal had received support from Congress leaders  Following his acquittal by the lower court in May 2021, Tarun Tejpal issued an official statement thanking people who helped him with the legal fight.  “In these 8 years a host of outstanding lawyers came to our aid, and we owe them all a deep debt, prime among them Pramod Dubey, Aamir Khan, Ankur Chawla, Amit Desai, Kapil Sibal, Salman Khurshid, Aman Lekhi, Sandeep Kapoor, Raian Karanjewala, and Shrikant Shivade,” Tejpal said.  In September 2021, Congress MP Manish Tewari had even claimed that Tarun Tejpal was ‘politically persecuted’ and that he has been “honourably exonerated”.  “My college Senior the much maligned, hugely politically persecuted &now honourably exonerated, the brilliant & mercurial Tarun Tejpal has written this teaser of his new book Animal Farm. Tarun at his evocative & provocative best. Welcome back friend,” he posted on X.  Tewari had faced backlash for backing Tejpal and disregarding the seriousness of the allegations against him.