Supreme Court refuses to suspend Tarun Tejpal’s 10-year sentence in rape case

• The Supreme Court has refused to suspend Tarun Tejpal’s 10-year sentence in the 2013 rape case

• The Bombay High Court convicted the former Tehelka editor in August, overturning his 2021 acquittal

• Tejpal has challenged his conviction, while the Goa government has separately sought life imprisonment

The Supreme Court on Friday declined to suspend journalist Tarun Tejpal’s 10-year prison sentence in a 2013 rape case, refusing relief sought by the former Tehelka editor while his challenge to the conviction remains pending.

A bench of justices M.M. Sundresh and Prasanna B. Varale said it was not inclined to suspend the sentence after hearing arguments from lawyers representing Tejpal and the Goa government.

The Bombay High Court’s Goa bench convicted Tejpal on 6 August and sentenced him to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment, reversing the acquittal delivered by a Goa trial court in 2021. Tejpal approached the Supreme Court on 20 August to challenge that judgment.

The case concerns the sexual assault of a junior colleague inside a hotel lift during Tehelka’s ThinkFest event in Goa in November 2013. The woman reported two incidents, on 7 and 8 November. The Goa government challenged the trial court’s acquittal, leading to the High Court’s reversal five years later.

In overturning the acquittal, the high court criticised the trial court’s assessment of the woman’s behaviour after the assault. It rejected expectations about how a survivor should respond to sexual violence, stressing that people process trauma differently and that there is no single standard of behaviour against which their credibility can be judged.

The high court found that the aggravated rape provisions applied because Tejpal occupied a position of trust, authority and control in relation to the woman. It imposed the statutory minimum punishment of 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment.

The Goa government has separately approached the Supreme Court seeking an increase in the sentence to life imprisonment. Earlier this week, Tejpal’s lawyers sought interim release for Diwali, a request opposed by the state.

Tejpal has maintained that he is a victim of political vendetta and has contested the high court’s findings.

Friday’s refusal concerns his application to suspend the sentence; it does not dispose of his appeal against the conviction.

With PTI inputs