The Goa bench of Bombay High Court has permitted the State government to further amend its appeal against Tarun Tejpal, former editor-in-chief of Tehelka magazine, in alleged sexual assault case.
According to LiveLaw, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the respondent, said that they have not received a copy of the updated appeal.
Consequently, the Court passed an order directing the Advocate General to furnish copies of the amended appeal along with all the Annexures that are to be relied upon to the counsel of the respondent within a week.
The next hearing on the matter is on June 29.
Earlier in May this year, a sessions court in Mapusa, Goa has acquitted the former editor-in-chief of Tehelka magazine, Tarun Tejpal, 58, in a sexual harassment and rape case filed by his colleague in 2013.
Public Prosecutor Francisco Tavera said the state was ‘seriously aggrieved’ by the judgment and would be challenging it.
Even Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had said the state government will challenge in the high court journalist Tarun Tejpal's acquittal in a 2013 rape case by a district court here. Sawant claimed that there was enough evidence against the accused.
The Goa police had registered an FIR against Tejpal in November 2013, following which he was arrested.
Tejpal faced trial under IPC sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), 354 (assault or criminal force with intent to outrage modesty), 354-A (sexual harassment), 354-B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 376(2)(f) (person in a position of authority over women, committing rape) and 376(2)k) (rape by a person in a position of control). The Goa crime branch had filed a charge sheet against Tejpal, who has been out on bail since May 2014.
The survivor had alleged that he had sexually assaulted her inside a lift in Goa while they were both attending an event.