Tarun Tejpal's 'apology mail' in focus as HC reserves order in sexual assault case
The Goa bench of the Bombay High Court on Thursday reserved its judgment on the Goa government's appeal against the acquittal of journalist Tarun Tejpal
The Goa bench of the Bombay High Court on Thursday reserved its judgment on the Goa government's appeal against the acquittal of journalist Tarun Tejpal in the 2013 sexual assault case, after hearing final arguments that largely centred on whether Tejpal's apology email amounted to an admission that a physical encounter had taken place. A Bench of Justices Dr Neela Gokhale and Amit Jamsandekar reserved the order after hearing Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for the Goa government and senior advocate Abad Ponda for Tejpal. The court did not specify when it would pronounce its verdict. Read Full Story Tejpal, the former editor-in-chief of Tehelka, was acquitted by a sessions court in Goa in 2021. The Goa government challenged the acquittal before the High Court. Opening his rejoinder arguments, Solicitor General Mehta criticised the trial court's approach, saying it had wrongly evaluated the complainant'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 submitted. He argued that the conduct of victims differs depending on their education, social background and circumstances, and courts cannot reject allegations merely because a complainant did not behave in a stereotypical manner. "The behaviour of a victim of molestation can be different based on the background they come from, their educational qualification. One cannot say one's behaviour is not like the other, so it is to be disbelieved," Mehta said. Referring to the complainant's role as a journalist, he argued that continuing with professional responsibilities after the alleged incident could not undermine her credibility.
"We should be proud that our daughter was part of an international event, she was an educated journalist. An allegation is that she was behaving normally. My professional responsibilities were different. I will not let my personal responsibility come in the professional responsibility," he submitted. Mehta also objected to the trial court's reliance on alleged inconsistencies in the complainant's testimony. He argued that expecting an educated and legally aware person to react in a particular way was flawed, adding that minor discrepancies did not make a witness "tutored". "That is not right. I am giving citations for my satisfaction that this victim has come across as a truthful victim," he said. Addressing the allegation that the complainant changed her accusation to rape only after a press conference by then Union minister Arun Jaitley, Mehta said the record showed otherwise. He told the court that the alleged first incident occurred on November 7, 2013, inside the hotel lift. On November 18, 2013, the complainant sent a formal complaint titled "testimony" to then Tehelka managing editor Shoma Chaudhury, before Jaitley's press conference. Mehta said the complaint specifically referred to Tejpal's text message mentioning "fingertips" and that the FIR reproduced the contents of the document verbatim. "The term rape is not an afterthought either for the victim or the police," Mehta argued. He also referred to the complainant's WhatsApp message dated November 19, 2013, in which she spoke about what had happened, and the November 22, 2013 letter seeking the Goa Director General of Police to initiate suo motu action. Questioning the defence's suggestion that the complainant fabricated the allegations, Mehta submitted, "Why would she fabricate? She did not want to criminally prosecute the accused." He also objected to the defence's reliance on the complainant's lifestyle and personal conversations.
The BriefWire