Tejpal’s anticipatory bail plea hearing adjourned till 2.30 pm

Panaji/New Delhi – Tehelka founder Tarun Tejpal’s anticipatory bail plea hearing adjourned till 2:30 p.m. today by the north Goa district and sessions court.

Tejpal’s lawyer said that they have got an interim relief at a personal bond of Rs 20,000. His lawyer also expressed confidence of getting the bail in the court.

Earlier this morning, a Goa police team raided Tejpal’s house in Delhi in an attempt to arrest him but returned empty handed after finding that he was not there.

According to television reports, the team reached the residence of Tejpal in Jungpura area of South Delhi a little after 6 a.m. and spent over 90 minutes.

Goa Police has summoned Tejpal to appear before it in connection with the sexual assault allegation against him.

Tejpal has been summoned in the wake of the recording of the statement made by the victim, a former woman journalist of Tehelka, before a Goa court.

She was allegedly sexually assaulted in a lift in a five-star hotel in Goa earlier this month.

The Delhi High Court had on Wednesday reserved its order on Tejpal’s bail application till Friday. Tejpal had applied for anticipatory bail even before the Goa Police summoned him.

Tejpal has filed a petition before the high court alleging that there was conspiracy behind the allegations of sexual assault, that the woman journalist was lying, and described the incident as a ‘light hearted banter’.

Goa Police had on November 22 lodged an FIR against Tejpal under IPC sections 376 (rape), 376 (2)(K) (rape by a person of a woman in his custody taking advantage of his official position) and 354 (outraging modesty). Conviction under section 376 of IPC entails a maximum of life term in jail.

Tejpal has suggested that the young journalist’s version of events is not entirely accurate. But in an email to her sent on Tuesday, he had admitted to a “shameful lapse of judgment that led me to attempt a sexual liaison with you on two occasions on 7 November and 8 November 2013, despite your clear reluctance that you did not want such attention from me.”

Goa Police was instructed by the state government to investigate her allegations, contained in the email by her to Chaudhury. That email was leaked to the press. The FIR against Tejpal lists rape by a person in a position of authority over the woman, an offence that carries a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison.