Court orders framing of charges against Tejpal in rape case

A Goa court today ordered framing of charges against senior journalist Tarun Tejpal, accused of sexually assaulting and raping a former woman colleague nearly four years ago.
Earlier, District and Sessions Judge Vijaya Pol dismissed Tejpal's application for dropping the charges against him.
The charges against Tejpal, 54, would be framed under IPC sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), 350 (criminal force), 354 (A) and (B) (sexually coloured remarks and use of criminal force on woman) and 376 (rape), the court said, according to the prosecutor.
The court has barred the media from covering the proceedings.
The framing of charges on September 28 will pave the way for start of the trial against the once celebrated journalist, the founder editor of Tehelka magazine.

"The court has directed that the charges be framed against Tarun Tejpal," Public Prosecutor Fransisco Tavora told reporters outside the court.
No charges against Tejpal were dropped by the court, he said.
A junior colleague of Tejpal had accused him of sexually assaulting her inside a lift at a five-star hotel in Goa during an event in 2013, triggering a massive public outrage. He is currently out on bail.