Tarun tejpal arrested after court rejects bail, to appear before magistrate today

Minutes after a Goa court rejected Tarun Tejpal’s anticipatory bail plea on Saturday evening, the Goa police arrested Tehelka’s editor-in-chief in connection with allegations of sexually

assaulting a colleague. Tejpal was at the Dona Paula crime branch headquarters when he was taken into custody. After his arrest, Tejpal was taken to the Goa Medical College for a medical

examination, sources said. He will be produced before a judicial magistrate on Sunday. If convicted, his punishment could range from a minimum 10 years in jail to life sentence. Earlier in

the day, lawyers from the defence and prosecution matched their wits against each other over the issue of anticipatory bail to Tejpal. The much-delayed order was pronounced after 8pm by

North Goa district and sessions judge Anuja Prabhudessai. Sources said the over three-and-a-half-hour delay was because of the time taken by the judge to dictate her order to the

stenographer.   The order allows Tejpal to avail of home food, bedding and clothing during his time in police custody. The Tehelka founder’s wife, sister, daughters and friends were waiting

outside the crime branch office till late night.  During the arguments in court, public prosecutor Saresh Lotlikar argued that Tejpal has been changing colours like a chameleon. However,

defence lawyer Geeta Luthra said that a false case of rape can bring distress and cause damage to the journalist. She offered that Tejpal will surrender his passport and won’t leave Goa till

the charge sheet is filed in the case. The prosecution sought 14-day custody of Tejpal in court, which observed that anticipatory bail is given only in ‘extraordinary cases’. The victim,

who worked at Tehelka (she resigned on Monday), alleged that Tejpal molested her twice during the magazine’s annual event ‘Think Fest’ in a five-star hotel in Goa on November 7 and 8. She

emailed her complaint to the managing editor last Monday. The Goa government took suo motu cognisance of the issue and registered a case of rape and outraging the modesty of a woman against

Tejpal. The prosecution submitted the victim’s statement to the judge and said: “CCTV footage secured by the police from the hotel had enough hints to confirm allegations of rape.” Lotlikar

accused Tejpal of insulting the victim by questioning her integrity, saying she had been “violated by a person who was like a father figure”. Tejpal sat in the second-last row of the

courtroom next to his wife, changed his seat, seemingly in distress and uneasily conversed with his wife for some time. His family and he left court separately around 12.45pm when a resident

of Rajasthan threw a black flag at the journalist. After going back to his hotel, Tejpal went to the crime branch office at 4.45pm and was there till the court rejected his bail plea. —With

agency inputs