Goa: Judgment in 'rape' case against Tejpal likely today

PANAJI: A local court hearing the eight-year-old alleged rape case against Tehelka founder-editor Tarun Tejpal is likely to pronounce the judgment on Tuesday.
Speaking to TOI, special public prosecutor Francisco Tavora confirmed that the order would be pronounced on April 27.
The court had posted the matter for order on March 22. The alleged incident had seen many twists and turns.
On November 7 and 8, 2013, Tejpal allegedly sexually assaulted a woman at an event organised by Tehelka at a starred hotel in North Goa.
On November 22, police lodged a suo motu first information report (FIR) against Tejpal.
He turned up in Goa on November 28, 2013 and was arrested on November 30 after his anticipatory bail plea was rejected. He was granted interim bail on May 19, 2014 to attend the cremation of his mother and since then, had been out of jail. In July 2014, Tejpal was granted bail.
In September 2017, a Mapusa court framed charges against Tejpal for allegedly raping a junior colleague in November 2013. Tejpal had pleaded not guilty, paving the way for a trial.
The cross-examination of the survivor began on October 21, 2019.
Earlier, Tejpal had, through a criminal revision application, challenged the framing of charges by the additional district and sessions court.
On December 20, 2017, the high court had dismissed Tejpal’s application.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)