The vacation bench of the Bombay High Court at Goa will hear the state government’s petition challenging the acquittal of Tehelka magazine founder editor Tarun Tejpal in a sexual assault case on May 27. Goa Advocate General Devidas Pangam told PTI that the case has been listed before the vacation bench of Justice S G Gupte for hearing on Thursday morning.
A sessions court in Goa on May 21 acquitted Tejpal of all charges including sexually assaulting his then colleague in a lift of a five-star hotel in Goa in 2013 when they were attending an event. The acquittal was challenged by the Goa government in the high court on Tuesday. While acquitting Tejpal, sessions court judge Kshama Joshi questioned the complainant woman’s conduct, holding that she did not exhibit any kind of “normative behaviour” such as trauma and shock which a victim of sexual assault might show.
The court also relied on the CCTV footage of the woman after the alleged incident to question the prosecution’s case. Tejpal had faced the trial under sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), 354 (assault or criminal force with intent to outrage modesty), 354-A (sexual harassment), 354-B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 376(2)(f) (person in a position of authority over women, committing rape) and 376(2)k) (rape by a person in a position of control) of the Indian Penal Code.
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