Supreme Court extends deadline to complete trial against Tarun Tejpal till March 31, 2021

The Supreme Court today extended the deadline for completion of the trial in the sexual assault case against founder of Tehelka magazine Tarun Tejpal till March 31 of next year..The Court passed the order in an application filed by the State of Goa seeking a one-year extension to complete the trial. The earlier deadline, which stood at December 31 of this year, has now been extended by three months..An order to this effect was passed despite resistance from Tejpal's counsel Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, who told the Court that the deadline of December 31 is itself an extended deadline. If by this date, the trial is not over, then the accused editor would not be opposed to an extension, Sibal said..Sibal thus requested the Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and MR Shah to take up the plea in the last week of December, before the Court breaks for winter vacation, and consider the question of extension of deadline then..Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, however, informed the Court that the trial judge is also of the opinion that the trial cannot be completed by December 31, and thus an extension is needed. As of now, as many as 31 witnesses are yet to be examined, he informed the Court..Expressing his willingness for the trial to be completed expeditiously, Sibal said that Tejpal hopes for the trial to be over soon. At this juncture, the Court reminded Sibal that it is Tejpal who is opposed to witnesses being examined via video conferencing, a stance placed before the Court during the last hearing..On October 5, Sibal had informed the Court that Tejpal was opposed to the witnesses being examined via video conferencing. Sibal had said that he would file a reply to put forth the reservations against video conferencing as well as extension of time for conclusion of trial..Pertinently, the State's application sought an extension of time to complete the trial citing health issues faced by the complainant in the case..The trial against Tejpal is now expected to be concluded by March 31, 2021..In August last year, the Supreme Court had fixed the outer time limit till December 31 for the trial to be completed. The proceedings against Tejpal are at a stage of examination of witnesses and charges have already been framed against him in the case dating back to 2013..The Apex Court had, last year, dismissed Tejpal's plea seeking quashing of the charges framed against him..Supreme Court dismisses Tarun Tejpal plea seeking quashing of sexual assault charges