Supreme Court directs Tarun Tejpal to surrender within 2 weeks

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal, convicted in rape case, to surrender before jail authorities within two weeks.

The Court rejected Tejpal's application for exemption from surrendering, and said it will start hearing Tejpal's appeal against his conviction by the High Court only after he surrenders and files a surrender certificate.

Justice Alok Aradhe on Tuesday asked Tejpal's counsel how much time he would require to surrender.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Tejpal, said he would need two weeks.

The Court then proceeded to record the same and posted the case for hearing on September 22 subject to Tejpal filing a surrender certificate by that date.

"Appellant shall surrender within a period of 2 weeks and file his surrender certificate. In case the surrender certificate is filed on or before September 22, the office is directed to list the matter in court on September 22," the Court stated in its order.

The case against Tejpal involves allegations that he sexually assaulted a junior colleague twice in 2013, in an elevator of a high-end hotel in Goa. The Goa Police subsequently registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Tejpal for various offences, including rape. 

He was arrested in November 2013 and later released on bail in July 2014. 

The trial against Tejpal commenced in 2017 and lasted for 4 years. In May 2021, the trial court acquitted Tejpal.

The High Court reversed the trial court acquittal on August 6 this year and convicted Tejpal for rape. He was sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years and a fine of over ₹10 lakh.

Tejpal has challenged this ruling before the Supreme Court.

Notably, on a request by Tejpal, the High Court, in its August 6 verdict, had granted him four weeks to surrender before the jail authorities, although it rejected his plea to stay the conviction.

Senior Advocate Sibal told the Court on Tuesday that Tejpal has filed an application seeking exemption from surrendering.

"This incident is of 2013. We are in 2026. Apart from the first 6 months he has throughout been on bail. The High Court has granted stay. There is no condition in the Act. In the circumstances your lordships should grant exemption. There is no point sending him in for 5 days and then his appeal being heard," Sibal said.

Representing the Goa government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta opposed the Tejpal's request for exemption from surrendering.

"High Court suspended the order so as to enable him to file exemption before Your Lordships. The petitioner was in more than one capacity in the offence. The reliance on the 1970 Act is not good. Now we have an appeal provision and pari materia provision in the new act. It is my case that your lordships go into the merits, whether this deserves exception from surrender or not," the SG said.

After hearing both sides, Justice Aradhe asked Tejpal to surrender.

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