The Supreme Court (SC,) on the 19th of August, dismissed a petition filed to quash a case against Tarun Tejpal, the founder and Editor of Tehelka magazine.
In 2013, a former junior employee of Tehelka accused Tarun Tejpal of sexually assaulting her in an elevator of a five star hotel. The incident took place in Goa during an event, ThinkFest, organised by Tehelka.
Vikas Singh, the lawyer of Tejpal, filed a petition to dismiss the case against Tarun, as the charges are false. Tejpal said the allegations were a trap laid by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP,) which is in power in Goa and tried to give the incident a political face.
However, a bench of three judges, comprising Arun Mishra, M.R. Shah and B.R. Gavai, refused to dismiss the case and said, “Something was there for which you tendered an apology. In case nothing has happened, then you need not have tendered an apology also.”
In 2013, after the incident, Tejpal sent an apology to the victim.
The SC also directed the Goa High Court to complete the trial against Mr. Tejpal within six months, as it is a serious allegation.
The last hearing of the case was held on the 6th of August 2019.
