Supreme Court asks Goa to respond to Tarun Tejpal’s appeal against rape conviction
Former editor-in-chief of Tehelka Tarun Tejpal. File | Photo credit: ANI
The Supreme Court on Friday (September 25, 2026) issued a notice to the State of Goa on the appeal filed former editor-in-chief of Tehelka Tarun Tejpal against a Bombay High Court verdict that sentenced him to 10 years in prison in a 2013 rape case.
A bench headed by Justice MM Sundresh accepted the appeal in a brief hearing. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, for Tejpal, presented the case as an overturning of the conviction and a custodial sentence. Mr Sibal said his client had already surrendered.
The Supreme Court ordered Tejpal to surrender within three weeks in an order issued on August 25. Single Judge Alok Aradhe noted that his appeal will be heard once his surrender certificate is submitted to the Supreme Court on or before September 22, 2026.
Tejpal’s appeal followed a separate appeal filed by the state of Goa in the high court to increase his sentence to life.
The state said the sentence was clearly disproportionate, but clarified that it did not wish to challenge or reopen the High Court’s findings on the merits.
On August 6, the Bombay High Court Bench sentenced him to 10 years in prison after overturning a five-year-old Goa court’s acquittal.
While Tejpal pleaded for leniency, claiming he was a “political victim” and a father of two daughters, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Goa, sought maximum punishment to send a strong message.
The state said the 10-year prison sentence handed down by the High Court was “grossly disproportionate to the nature and gravity of the offence” Tejpal had committed.
“The present case warrants an enhancement of the sentence to life imprisonment or such enhanced sentence as this court deems appropriate, and the sentences should not have been ordered concurrently,” the state’s petition said.
The Supreme Court termed the trial court’s 2021 order as “perverse”.
Tejpal was convicted of raping a junior colleague in a hotel lift in 2013 during a magazine event in Goa.
Published – 25 Sep 2026 11:41 IST