Sexual assail: Tejpal applies for bail to Goa bench of Bombay high court

Tehelka founder editor Tarun Tejpal on Saturday applied for bail in the sexual assault case against him to the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court. The plea will be heard next week.

It is expected that the Goa Police will file a charge sheet in the case before February 15.

The Goa sessions court had earlier rejected Tejpal’s bail plea saying the CCTV footage of the lift did not falsify the victim’s version.

The court had also observed that if Tejpal gets bail he could possibly influence the witnesses and jeopardise the case.

The details emerging from the 21-page observations of the court had also suggested that the e-mail exchanges in the case rule out the possibility of the act being consensual. The observations also hold importance as all through the arguments, Tejpal’s lawyers have been saying that he will be exonerated if the CCTV footage is examined.

Tejpal has been accused of allegedly sexually assaulting a junior colleague in a Goa resort, during ThinkFest, a high-profile conference organised by him and his team. He is currently lodged at the Sada sub-jail in the port town of Vasco, 35 km from Panaji, as prisoner number 624.