India: Journalist acquitted after assault allegations

An Indian court has acquitted Tarun Tejpal, a high profile magazine editor, of rape charges, almost eight years after the accusations were leveled against him. Tejpal, 58, was released on bail in July 2014, after spending seven months in jail.

Tejpal said he was "relieved" following the verdict on Friday. In a statement read out by his daughter outside the court, Tejpal said the past few years were "traumatic" for his family as they "dealt with the catastrophic fallout of these false allegations on every aspect of our personal, professional and public lives."

Some users on social media were quick to point out that Tejpal's statement was prepared on May 19 — two days before the verdict was released, insinuating that he may have been aware of his eventual acquittal.

The prosecution said it would appeal the verdict. A special public prosecutor, Francisco Tavora, said that details on why the court had dismissed the accusations would be available after a written judgment was released.

Who is Tarun Tejpal?

Tarun Tejpal was the high-profile editor-in-chief of Tehelka, a magazine that gained fame in India for its investigative stories often based on sting operations, such as Operation West End, in which Tehelka reporters posed as arms dealers to secretly film politicians accepting bribes for fake arms deals.

Tehelka's reporters also gained a positive reputation for their courageous reporting.

The magazine, during Tejpal's tenure, had commissioned a sting to unravel any potential cover-ups by the state government of Gujarat during riots in 2002. At the time, the state was led by India's current prime minister, Narendra Modi.

Journalist Rana Ayyub played an instrumental role during her tenure at the magazine in investigating India's top politicians.

In 2010, she unraveled phone records and a state intelligence document linking India's current home minister, Amit Shah, to killings of three Muslims based on false grounds of terrorism. This led to Shah's arrest.

Tejpal claims that the assault allegation against him were false and probably orchestrated as a political vendetta by members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), India's current ruling party and the party in power in the state of Goa when the accusations were made.

What were the charges against Tejpal?

In 2013, during a conference in Goa, Tejpal was accused of assaulting a female staff member in a hotel elevator. 

Tejpal was charged with rape, sexual harassment and wrongful restraint and the trial began in 2017.

A few days after the assault, the survivor had emailed Shoma Chaudhary, then managing editor of Tehelka, about the incident. She claimed that Tejpal had forcefully tried to perform oral sex on her and later penetrated her with his fingers.

Tejpal had reportedly sent an email to the survivor  apologizing for his behavior. He also admitted his "bad lapse of judgment" to Chaudhary.

The survivor was cross-examined for almost a month over her claims. Lawyers say this was one of the longest cross-examinations in the state of Goa's history.

Tejpal's case is one of the few high-profile cases in India in which a young employee has stood up against a senior figure. Few women speak about sexual assault and the Indian government has not yet published any information on the effectiveness of India's law on prevention of sexual harassment at the workplace.

Activists decried the court's judgment, saying that the survivor deserved justice.

Pramod Sawant, the chief minister of Goa, said that the state government would appeal the acquittal in a higher court. 

"We will not tolerate any injustice to women in Goa. It is extremely sad," he said.