[BREAKING] "Prima facie case:" Bombay High Court issues notice in appeal by State of Goa against Tarun Tejpal acquittal in sexual assault case

The Bombay High Court at Goa on Wednesday issued notice to Tarun Tejpal, former Editor-in-Chief of Tehelka magazine in the appeal challenging his acquittal in the sexual assault case against his former female subordinate at Tehelka..Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Goa government submitted that the judgment lacked complete sensitivity for crimes against women and on the knowledge of the sections of criminal laws. He submitted that the judgement was replete with examples on attempts of the trial court to define the conduct of the victim, her reaction to the assault and her past sexual conduct. He also pointed out that the insensitive remarks of the judges on the intelligence and knowledge of law of the victim set a bad precedent on how a victim of sexual assault must behave during or post assault..While Mehta was reading the contentious portions in the judgment, Justice SC Gupte commented that the verdict appeared to be a manual for rape victimHe observed that there is a prima facie case made out to grant leave to hear the appeal. Justice Gupte also called for records and proceedings of the sessions case as the judgment did not make out the prosecution case in the trial but merely had observations on the evidence. Notice was issued returnable on June 24, 2021. .On May 21, the trial court had acquitted Tejpal of all charges which included wrongful confinement, assault or criminal force with intent to outrage modesty, sexual harassment along with rape against his female colleague which was challenged by the State of Goa.The State then filed an appeal before the Bombay High Court calling for the setting aside of the acquittal order and seeking a retrial.When the appeal came up for hearing last week, the High Court ordered the trial court to redact the references to the identity of prosecutrix and her family members in the judgment.The Court also permitted Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's request to amend the grounds in the appeal since the State received the judgment only on May 25..[Read order here]