Updated on: Aug 18, 2026, 21:38:30 IST By HT News Desk Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link The Goa government has approached the Supreme Court, seeking a tougher jail sentence for former Tehelka magazine editor Tarun Tejpal in a 2013 rape case, reported PTI news agency on Tuesday.
After his sentencing on August 6, former Tehelka magazine editor Tarun Tejpal said he would approach the Supreme Court. (ANI Video Grab) Earlier this month, the Bombay high court in Goa had overturned a trial court's 2022 acquittal of Tejpal, sentencing him to 10 years in jail for raping a junior colleague during the ThinkFest conference at a five-star hotel in Goa in 2013.
A Bombay HC bench of justices Neela Gokhale and Amit Jamsandekar held that the trial court's appreciation of evidence was not only unreasonable but perverse, adding that its evaluation of the testimony exhibited multiple fatal flaws, HT reported earlier.
Tarun Tejpal was sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and a ₹5 lakh fine under section 376(2)(f) of the Indian Penal Code (rape by a relative, guardian or teacher, or a person in a position of trust or authority towards the woman), one year in prison and ₹10,000 fine under section 354 (criminal force to outrage modesty of woman), one year jail under section 354A (sexual harassment), three years rigorous imprisonment and ₹10,000 fine under section 354B (using criminal force to disrobe a woman), a fine of ₹500 each under sections 341 and 342 (wrongful restraint and punishment for wrongful confinement).
The high court had also observed that the trial court's findings were "directly contrary" to the evidence on record.
Justice Gokhale stated that sexual harassment at work caused significant harm to women's careers, punishing them for factors beyond their control.
The 2013 rape case The junior colleague who filed the complaint against Tarun Tejpal alleged that the former Tehelka magazine editor had raped her on November 7, 2013, and then again tried to assault her on November 8.
Tejpal had resigned from his position after the allegations and issued an email to his magazine's staff, apologising for the incident.
He had not made any direct references to the allegations, but referred to them as a "shameful lapse of judgment." What Tarun Tejpal, his daughter said Tarun Tejpal reacted to his conviction by the Bombay High Court and said he believed the order was "wrong." "We will be appealing against this order.
We feel the order is wrong.
We will be moving to the Supreme Court against the order," Tejpal told reporters.
He also referred to himself as a "political victim" before the court.
"I told the judge that I'm a political victim.
That I'm a journalist for Tehelka.
The government has been after me for the past 13 years.
I'm not alone in this," Tejpal said.
Citing his age of 62 years, Tejpal also sought leniency from the court.
Tarun Tejpal's daughter, Cara, had also opposed the conviction, claiming he was being targeted for Tehelka magazine's investigative journalism.
She alleged that the rape allegation was being used as a means to "silence" him.
Cara Tejpal also said she had examined the evidence in the rape case against her father for 13 years, adding that she was convinced that he was "innocent." She alleged that Tarun Tejpal was convicted "on the basis of a false allegation of rape filed suo moto by the state of Goa." "Tarun Tejpal was more than a thorn in the side of the BJP government, and what better way to silence him than to portray him as the most reviled of all sinners-a rapist," Cara said, news agency PTI reported.
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