Tarun Tejpal, former editor-in-chief of Tehelka magazine, filed a case in the Supreme Court , challenging the conviction and 10-year sentence in jail handed down to him by the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court. The latest step was taken after just a few weeks of the High Court upholding his 2021 trial court acquittal and convicting the 62-year-old for raping a junior at a hotel elevator in Goa during an official event in November 2013.
High court flays trial verdict over ‘perfect victim’ myth
The Bombay High Court set aside the trial court verdict on August 6, 2026, imposing a sentence of 10 years of rigorous imprisonment on Tejpal on two counts of aggravated rape to run concurrently.
In an extremely critical judgment, the High Court referred to the lower court’s judgment as ‘perverse,’ noting that the judge based his decision on the myth that a woman who was raped has to fit into the ‘perfect victim’ stereotype in order to convince.
Criticism on defence conduct: The Bombay High Court censured the conduct of the defense, stating that the survivor had been cross-examined on nearly 1000 pages in order to terrorize her character.
Timeline for surrender: Although initially told to surrender in two weeks, Tejpal was granted an extension of four weeks by the court after his legal team requested the same.
Demand of life imprisonment in cross-petition by Goa government
In addition to the appeal filed by Tejpal, there is also another cross-petition by the Goa state government seeking stricter punishment.
Prosecutors of the state government contended before the apex court that the 10-year concurrent sentence awarded by the court is still “grossly disproportionate” and asked that he be imprisoned for life.
Tejpal has all along claimed his innocence and stated that he is “a political victim.” The cross-petitions will come up for hearing in the Supreme Court in the coming sittings.
