‘The perfect victim is a myth’: How the Bombay High Court reversed Tarun Tejpal’s acquittal

ON AUGUST 6, 2026, the Bombay High Court’s Goa Bench set aside the acquittal of Tarun Tejpal in the 2013 rape and sexual assault case involving a female journalist employed at Tehelka. A division bench of Justices Neela Gokhale and Amit Jamsandekar convicted the magazine’s founder and ex-editor-in-chief under Sections 376(2)(f) and 376(2)(k) (rape by a person in a position of trust or authority), 354A, and 354B (outraging modesty and sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and and imposed concurrent sentences, including ten years’ rigorous imprisonment.

The case dates back to 2013 where Tejpal had on two occasions allegedly wrongfully restrained his young collegue and raped and sexually assaulted her. On May 21, 2021, the District and Sessions Court in Panaji, presided over by Justice Kshama Joshi, had acquitted Tejpal of all charges citing shortcomings in the investigation conducted by the investigating officer and failure to prove allegations beyond reasonable doubt.

Allegations against Tejpal

The alleged incidents took place on two nights during the THiNK Fest event organised by Tehelka at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Bambolim, Goa, between November 7 and 11, 2013. Tejpal allegedly took the prosecutrix into the guest lifts on two distinct occasions and used force to wrongfully restrain her and committed acts of sexual harassment and rape, including forcible kissing, lifting of dress, and digital and oral penetration. The prosecutrix stated that she was also told this was the “easiest way” for her to keep her job.

Immediately after the first incident, the prosecutrix had met with three colleagues and informed them she had been sexually assaulted. She also spoke with her partner via phone. Despite the alleged trauma, she continued her professional duties for the remainder of the festival to avoid financial distress or the loss of her job. 

On November 18, 2013, a detailed email narrating the events was sent by her to the Managing Editor of Tehelka, Shoma Chaudhary, demanding an inquiry and an apology. Following this, Tejpal wrote to the victim stating, “I apologise unconditionally for the shameful lapse of judgement that led me to attempt a sexual liaison with you on two occasions on November 7 and November 8 2013, despite your clear reluctance that you did not want such attention from me.”

He also wrote to Chaudhry and called the incident a bad lapse of judgement and a misreading of the situation.