New Delhi, Aug 26:
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed journalist Tarun Tejpal to surrender within two weeks to undergo his prison sentence in the 2013 rape case, rejecting his plea seeking exemption from surrender.
A bench of Justice Alok Aradhe dismissed Tejpal’s application and said his appeal challenging the conviction and sentence would be taken up on September 22, subject to the filing of a surrender certificate.
Tejpal was convicted by the Bombay High Court on August 6 and sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment, overturning his acquittal by a trial court.
The case relates to the alleged rape of a junior colleague in a hotel elevator during an event organised by Tehelka magazine in Goa in 2013.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Tejpal, told the court that the former Tehelka editor had earlier spent around six months in custody and had remained on bail since then. The court, however, refused to exempt him from surrendering.
The Goa government has separately approached the Supreme Court seeking enhancement of Tejpal’s sentence, arguing that the nature and gravity of the offence warranted a harsher punishment.