The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed a plea by Tehelka’s founder- editor Tarun Tejpal to advance hearing on his regular bail in the sexual assault case.
Tejpal is out of jail on interim bail to perform rituals following the demise of his mother. He contended that his special leave petition — challenging the Bombay High Court’s order dismissing his bail plea — which had been posted for consideration on July 7, should be heard early.
A bench of Justices Vikramjit Sen and Shiva Kirti Singh granted his plea put forth by senior advocate Salman Khurshid and decided to advance the hearing to June 27, the day Tejpal’s interim bail ends. Khurshid submitted that advancing the hearing would mean Tejpal need not surrender after June 27, if the court found merit in his arguments.
A counsel, appearing for the Goa police, contended that the matter should not be posted for early hearing as the counsel handling the matter was out of town. The bench, however, gave her the option between June 23 and 27 as the next date and finally fixed the matter for the latter, ignoring her resistance.
Fifty-year-old Tejpal is accused of allegedly raping, sexually harassing and outraging the modesty of a female colleague, who claimed to be friend of his daughter.
He has been in jail since November 30 before his release on May 19 for the first time to perform the last rites of his mother who passed away a day before.
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