NEW DELHI: Tarun Tejpal on Thursday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay high court’s August 6 order convicting him in a 2013 sexual assault case and sentencing him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment, as per a report by PTI news agency.Tejpal was convicted of raping a junior colleague inside a hotel elevator in Goa during an event organised by Tehelka magazine in 2013, after the high court overturned his acquittal by the trial court. The appeal has been filed through advocate Aditya Samaddar.Earlier, the Goa government has also moved the Supreme Court seeking a life sentence for Tejpal, arguing that the 10-year sentence is too lenient considering the nature and seriousness of the offences.What led to Tejpal’s conviction?The case dates back to November 2013, when a junior journalist accused Tejpal of sexually assaulting her inside an elevator at a five-star hotel in Goa during an event organised by Tehelka magazine.Tejpal was arrested on November 30, 2013, and was later charged under various provisions of the IPC, including rape, sexual harassment and assault with intent to disrobe. He pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to a ANI report.In May 2021, a Goa sessions court acquitted Tejpal of all charges, holding that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.The Goa government challenged the acquittal before the Bombay high court, which later overturned the trial court’s verdict and convicted Tejpal on August 6 this year.After his conviction, Tejpal told the court that he was 62 years old and the father of two children, and claimed that he had been targeted for political reasons.The high court, however, sentenced him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.
