HC adjourns hearing on appeal against Tejpal's acquittal to Aug 10

The Goa bench of the Bombay High Court on Thursday adjourned to August 10 the hearing on the appeal filed by the state government against journalist Tarun Tejpal's acquittal in a rape case.

A division bench of Justices M S Sonak and M S Jawalkar deferred the hearing after Tejpal's lawyer Amit Desai told the court that his instructing counsel Ankur Chawla had "bereavement" and some documents were yet to be furnished.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and state Advocate General Devidas Pangam appeared on behalf of the state.

Pangam requested that the hearing be scheduled before August 17 as the court may resume physical hearings after August 15 and Mehta may not be able to assist then. The bench, clarifying that there was no decision yet about physical hearings, adjourned the case to August 10. On May 21, 2021, a sessions court in Goa acquitted Tejpal of the charge of sexually assaulting a former woman colleague inside the elevator of a luxury hotel in the state in 2013.