Tarun Tejpal (62), founder of the investigative magazine Tehelka, surrendered on Monday before the Bombay High Court’s Goa bench in connection with a sexual assault case involving a former woman employee.
The case dates back to 2013, when Tehelka’s anniversary event was held at a luxury hotel in Goa. A complaint alleged that Tejpal sexually assaulted a young woman journalist inside a lift during the event.
Tejpal had earlier spent about six months in jail before securing bail from the Supreme Court. After trial proceedings that ran from 2017, a trial court acquitted him in 2021.
The Goa government challenged the acquittal in appeal. In August, the High Court’s Goa bench convicted Tejpal under multiple sections and sentenced him to a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 5 lakh.
During the hearing, Tejpal sought leniency citing his age and requested an eight-week suspension of the sentence to approach the Supreme Court. The court declined to stay the sentence, directed him to surrender, later extending the time to four weeks—after which he surrendered as the deadline ended.
