'Character Assassination, Slander': Thirteen Years Later, Survivor's Words Find An Echo In Bombay HC's Tejpal Verdict

Published 7 August 2026 · india

News india 'Character Assassination, Slander': Thirteen Years Later, Survivor's Words Find An Echo In Bombay HC's Tejpal Verdict 'Character Assassination, Slander': Thirteen Years Later, Survivor's

News india 'Character Assassination, Slander': Thirteen Years Later, Survivor's Words Find An Echo In Bombay HC's Tejpal Verdict 'Character Assassination, Slander': Thirteen Years Later, Survivor's Words Find An Echo In Bombay HC's Tejpal Verdict Published By, Last Updated: August 07, 2026, 08:51 IST On August 6, Bombay High Court convicted Tejpal and sentenced him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment on the charges of raping his junior colleague in 2013. Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal. Thirteen years ago, one of the most prominent magazines in India, ‘Tehelka’, got embroiled in one of the biggest controversies when a journalist knocked on the doors of her boss’s cabin and alleged sexual assault at the hands of the magazine’s co-founder Tarun Tejpal. The survivor alleged that the sexual assault she had suffered at the hands of Tejpal had been trivialised through what she described as “tactics of intimidation, character assassination and slander", NDTV reported. On August 6, 2026, Bombay High Court convicted Tejpal and sentenced him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment on the charges of raping his junior colleague in 2013. The court’s decision came after the trial court had acquitted him in 2021. The Bombay High Court on Friday held that the trial court had adopted a flawed approach by assessing the complainant against the stereotype of an “ideal" victim, calling its findings “perverse." However, unsatisfied with the High Court’s verdict, Tejpal said that he will challenge it in the Supreme Court. Also Read: ‘Tarun Tejpal Didn’t Understand No Means No’: Key Takeaways From Verdict In 2013 Sexual Assault Case What Survivor Said In Her Resignation Letter In her resignation letter addressed to then Tehelka Managing Editor Shoma Chaudhury, the survivor accused the publication’s leadership of failing to stand by her after the alleged sexual assault by Tarun Tejpal.

She wrote that she was “shattered" by what she described as the stark contrast between Chaudhury’s private assurances and her public statements on national television. The letter came after Tejpal had publicly acknowledged his actions. Despite that, the survivor alleged that both Tejpal and Chaudhury repeatedly described the incident as “an untoward incident", a characterisation she said sought to minimise the gravity of the alleged sexual assault, according to NDTV. She further objected to what she called attempts to portray the incident as a matter of competing narratives. “You are now attempting to establish that Mr Tejpal has ‘another version’ of events (as surely, any sexual predator does), and that the ‘encounter’ may have been consensual or non-consensual… Mr Tejpal is now claiming that what occurred was a ‘fleeting, consensual encounter’; and that he wrote his apologies to me because of your ‘adamantine feminist principles’," the survivor wrote. Emphasising that consent was central to the issue, she said no explanation could justify a sexual act carried out without it. Referring to Tehelka’s editorial record on gender issues, she wrote, “Over the past years, we have collectively defended the rights of women, written about custodial rape, sexual molestation at the workplace, spoken out harshly against the culture of victim blame and the tactical emotional intimidation and character assassination of those who dare to speak out against sexual violence." Expressing disappointment with the magazine’s response, the survivor accused its leadership of abandoning the principles it had long championed. “At a time when I find myself victim to such a crime, I am shattered to find the Editor in Chief of Tehelka, and you – in your capacity as Managing Editor – resorting to precisely these tactics of intimidation, character assassination and slander.