The Supreme Court on Friday, November 6, refused to suspend the 10-year rigorous imprisonment sentence of former Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal in the 2013 rape case, dismissing his application after a prima facie consideration of the evidence, including his emails and messages, LiveLaw reported. A bench of Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice Prasanna B. Varale said no case for suspension of the sentence was made out.

Source: LiveLaw

"We do not find it is a fit case to grant suspension of sentence. On a prima facie view, we are not inclined to suspend the sentence," the bench said, Bar and Bench reported. When Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Tejpal, asked at what stage the court might consider suspension, the bench replied, "We can't give a stage now."

Source: Bar and Bench

Decision after the deferred hearing

On November 3 the Supreme Court had deferred Tejpal's appeal hearing to November 5 after the Goa government sought more time and opposed a brief Diwali furlough for him. Friday's order is the decision that followed that hearing: the suspension plea is dismissed and the sentence continues to operate while his appeal against conviction is pending. Read the earlier story

The arguments the bench heard

Sibal argued for Tejpal that the lift in which the alleged assault took place opened at floors during the 2 minutes and 9 seconds in question, that footage which would have shown this was destroyed, and that the normal course in a case where an acquittal has been reversed is to suspend the sentence. Senior Advocate Siddharth Agarwal added that Tejpal was on bail throughout the trial and never misused his liberty, LiveLaw reported.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State of Goa, opposed the plea, pointing to the apology email Tejpal sent the complainant after she raised the matter inside the magazine, and to a late-night message he sent her. He argued the trial court's 2021 acquittal had effectively put the complainant on trial over how an "ideal victim" should behave.

10 yearsRigorous imprisonment imposed by the Bombay High Court
August 6Date the High Court reversed the 2021 acquittal and convicted Tejpal
Rs 10 lakh+Fine imposed by the High Court, per Bar and Bench
2013Year of the alleged assault in a Goa hotel lift

How the case reached this stage

The case stems from a junior colleague's allegation that Tejpal sexually assaulted her in a lift of a luxury hotel in Goa in November 2013, during an event organised by Tehelka. A trial court acquitted him in May 2021. On August 6 this year, the Bombay High Court's Goa bench of Justices Neela Gokhale and Amit Jamsandekar reversed the acquittal, convicted him of rape and related offences, and sentenced him to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment. Tejpal challenged the conviction in the Supreme Court on August 20 and surrendered in September after the top court required him to surrender for his appeal to be considered. The State of Goa has also filed an appeal seeking life imprisonment for him, LiveLaw reported.

Source: LiveLaw

News agency ANI likewise reported on Friday that the Supreme Court had dismissed Tejpal's plea seeking suspension of the sentence imposed by the Bombay High Court.

Source: ANI via Daily Prabhat