Tarun Tejpal verdict ‘coloured by prejudice and patriarchy’, says Goa government in appeal to HC
In its amended appeal, the state government said Tejpal was not subjected to such high standard of scrutiny as the complainant.
Appealing against the acquittal of Tarun Tejpal, the founder-editor of
Tehelka magazine who was accused of sexual assault and rape by a younger colleague, the Goa government has said that the trial court’s judgement is “coloured by prejudice and patriarchy”,
Live Law reported on Monday.
On May 21, Additional Sessions Judge Kshama Joshi at the Mapusa District and Sessions Court in Goa acquitted Tejpal in the case registered in 2013. On May 25, the Goa government moved the Bombay High Court against the acquittal of the journalist. In the 527-page judgement, made available on May 25, the judge said the journalist was cleared of all charges as the complainant did not show the “kind of normative behaviour” expected from her.
Goa government seeks retrial in Tejpal case; cites trial court s observations
The appeal, filed before the HC s Goa bench, was amended this week to bring on record the judgement and to include further grounds against the acquittal of Tejpal.
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MUMBAI: The Goa government in its appeal before the Bombay High Court against journalist Tarun Tejpal s acquittal in a rape case said it was a fit case for retrial, citing the trial court s lack of understanding of a victim s post-trauma behaviour and censuring of her character.
The appeal, filed before the HC s Goa bench, was amended this week to bring on record the judgement and to include further grounds against the acquittal of Tejpal.
Tarun Tejpal Judgment Coloured by Prejudice and Patriarchy : Goa Govt s Appeal
The government has said that the case for a retrial is made out since the judge allowed scandalous , irrelevant and humiliating questions to be asked of the complainant.
Tarun Tejpal. Photo: PTI
Women8 hours ago
New Delhi:Â In its appeal of the sessions court judgment appealing Tarun Tejpal’s acquittal in a sexual assault case, the Goa government has said the lower court lacks understanding of a rape survivor’s trauma. The government’s appeal in the high court also states that the complainant’s sexual history cannot form the legal basis for an acquittal, especially when the same standards are not applied to the accused,
It also claimed that the trial court completely ignored the most telling piece of evidence in the case (the apology e-mail) "which established the guilt of the accused beyond a shadow of doubt".
The judgement by a Goa court acquitting former Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal is "shocking" in its legal bias, as it questions the credibility of the victim who is "a good writer, conversant with rape law, independent" .