Supreme Court Issues Notices in Tejpal Appeals

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices in two appeals concerning journalist Tarun Tejpal’s conviction and 10-year prison sentence in a 2013 sexual assault case. Tejpal is challenging the Bombay High Court’s conviction, while the Goa government is seeking to increase his sentence to life imprisonment. Neither appeal has been decided. A bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and P.B. Varale sought responses in both matters. The state’s appeal asks the court to enhance the punishment imposed by the High Court. Goa argues that the 10-year term is disproportionate to the offences; that position is part of its appeal, not a finding by the Supreme Court. Tejpal’s lawyer, Kapil Sibal, asked the bench to set an early hearing for his client’s bail plea. The court said it would provide a date, but no hearing date was reported. The notices do not resolve the bail request or the merits of either appeal. The appeals follow an August 6 ruling by the Bombay High Court that overturned Tejpal’s 2021 acquittal and convicted him, imposing a 10-year prison term. The case arose from allegations that he sexually assaulted a junior colleague in a hotel elevator in Goa in 2013.