Goemkaponn Desk
PANAJI: Mapusa Fast Track Court will on May 19 pronounce its verdict in the 2013 rape case registered against Tarun Tejpal, former Editor-in-Chief of Tehelka magazine.
The verdict was scheduled to be pronounced today but was adjourned.
Earlier, speaking to media persons, Special Public Prosecutor Francisco Tavora had informed that if the accused is convicted then there might be a sentence of a “minimum of 10 years to a maximum life sentence” depending on the “discretion of the judge”.
Tarun Tejpal was arrested on November 30 in 2013 after being accused of raping a colleague at a five-star resort in North Goa. He is currently out on bail.
On September 29, 2017, the court had charged him under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including rape, sexual harassment, and wrongful confinement. He, however, pleaded not guilty.
The trial began in September 2017 but kept getting delayed because Mr Tejpal moved the high court and the Supreme Court to challenge the charges levelled against him.
In August 2019, the apex court declined his plea and ordered that the trial to be held in-camera (not open for public) and be completed in six months.
