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The Delhi High court on Wednesday reserved its verdict on a bail plea by former editor of Tehelka Tarun Tejpal till Friday. Tejpal is facing charges of raping a junior colleague recently in Goa.
Following the delay in granting the bail, the Goa police, which is investigating the case, has asked Tejpal to appear before the investigating officer on Thursday. It has also issued an immigration checkpost alert to prevent Tejpal from leaving the country.
In his bail application, Tejpal has said there was no rape and that the encounter was only a “light-hearted banter, which led to a moment of privacy” between the two individuals.
“The alleged colleague referred above continued to party and was completely normal and friendly all throughout her stay in Goa. To the shock of the applicant, on November 18, 2013, the applicant was informed by the managing editor of Tehelka magazine that she had received a complaint alleging sexual harassment against him by a female colleague. The applicant was shocked to learn a false complaint was sought to be projected as an incident of alleged harassment. The applicant categorically refuted the same,” the bail application said.
Tejpal has also said there could be a political motive against him, as Tehelka had earlier conducted a sting operation on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which led to the resignation of then BJP president Bangaru Laxman.
Meanwhile, Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who belongs to the BJP, rubbished Tejpal's claims saying his duty is only to ensure justice to the victim.
On Wednesday, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj took a dig at Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, by tweeting that a Union minister, who is the founder and patron of Tehelka, was shielding Tejpal. Following this, Sibal said he does not own any share in Tehelka and he is not in any way related to Tejpal.
Meanwhile, Shoma Chaudhury, managing editor of Tehelka, rejected the allegations that she was involved in "slander, intimidation or character assassination" of the victim of the alleged sexual assault, terming the charges "a malicious campaign".
"I strongly reject the allegations in the media that I am involved in any manner with any slander, intimidation or character assassination of the complainant journalist. This is a malicious campaign that has no basis in truth," Chaudhury said in a statement on Wednesday.
Tehelka’s brand value has also dented since the allegations came to light last week. Over the past week, seven journalists have resigned from the magazine.
On Tuesday, the victim's mother had filed a complaint with the Delhi police against an immediate family member of Tejpal for allegedly intimidating the victim and the family over the case.
