Tarun Tejpal acquittal: Bombay High Court rejects Tejpal's objections against maintainability of State's appeal in sexual assault case

The Bombay High Court at Goa on Saturday rejected the objections raised by former editor of Tehelka magazine Tarun Tejpal to the maintainability of appeal filed by State of Goa against his acquittal by the trial court in a sexual assault case. .A Bench of MS Sonak and RN Laddha observed that a prima facie case and arguable facts have been set out in the appeal by the State."We not only reject the preliminary objections raised on behalf of the Respondent regarding the maintainability of this application but further allow the application and grant leave under Section 378(3) of Cr.P.C. because we are satisfied that a prima facie case has been made out and arguable points have been raised in the matter,” the order said..The Bench also highlighted that the trial court required deeper scrutiny as which could possibly require revisiting the observations of the trial court.“…we believe that deeper scrutiny and reappreciation may be necessary of the evidence of the Respondent's SMS, Whatsapp, and Email messages sent to the victim. This examination, we believe, is essential for several reasons that need not be elaborated.” the Division Bench said.“Suffice to state that this evidence has to be evaluated from the context of corroboration of the victim's testimony in the matter. Based on this evidence, perhaps, some of the learned Additional Sessions Judge inferences about the victim's conduct may also need a revisit. The inference from the victim's conduct of consulting some lawyers before lodging her complaint may also require a revisit. Finally, the contention about the alleged admissions in the messages or the proper scope of such statements also requires consideration.” the Bench added..As is the procedure after admitting appeal, the appellate court holds discretionary power to issue an arrest warrant against the accused so that he could surrender before the nearest magistrate court till pendency of the appeal.However in the present case, the Court noted that Tejpal had been enlarged on bail subject to certain terms and conditions for a considerable time“There is nothing on record to suggest that the Respondent had at any stage breached the terms and conditions subject to which he was enlarged on bail. Therefore, according to us, no case is made out for issuing any warrant under Section 390 of CrPC“ the Bench observed.Having said that, the Court directed Tejpal to appear before the trial court within 15 days from today so that the trial court can admit him to bail on the similar terms and conditions subject to which he had been admitted to bail during the trial.The Court also directed the trial court to handover the passport of Tejpal to him for renewal and ensure he deposited the same back in trial court registry..The application was filed by State of Goa under Section 378(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) seeking leave to appeal against the judgment and order of May 21, 2021 in Sessions Court at Mapusa, Goa.By that judgement, Tejpal was acquitted of charges which included wrongful confinement, assault or criminal force with intent to outrage modesty, sexual harassment along with rape under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against his female colleague.Tejpal had challenged the maintainability of the appeal on the ground that the State had not followed proper procedure under CrPC..The Bench opined that usually the State Government would decide on whether to institute an appeal against an acquittal or not after obtaining a copy of the acquittal order and examining the reasonings therein. However, this would not mean that a decision to institute such an appeal, even before obtaining the copy of the acquittal order, becomes a nullity.Citing all judgments referred to by the parties to substantiate their submissions, the Court concluded that the institution of the appeal cannot be held incompetent on the alleged ground that the State Government's decision was a nullity being a product of non-application of mind..Solicitor General Tushar Mehta with Advocate General Devidas Pangam and Additional Public Prosecutor Pravin Faldessai appeared for State of Goa.Senior Advocate Amit Desai with Advocates Ankur Chawla, Raunaq Rao, Gopal Krishna Shenoy, Manali Kamat and T. Souto appeared for Tejpal.[Read order]