NEW DELHI, Nov 27:
Tarun Tejpal, founding editor of Tehelka, today failed to get any immediate relief against his arrest in the sexual assault case by the Delhi High Court which will pronounce its order on his anticipatory bail plea on Friday.
“The order is reserved for November 29,” Justice Sunita Gupta said, while rejecting the vociferous plea of senior advocates K T S Tulsi and Geeta Luthra that till then Tejpal should not be arrested in the case which has been foisted to drive the “political mileage” against him who had once caught the then BJP president in a sting operation.
The judge declined the oral plea for an order that he should not be arrested for the next two days, saying she will pass an order only on Friday.
Refuting Tejpal’s submissions, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Goa police, said, “this is a man married with a family and was dealing with an employee who is a friend of his daughter and whom he knew from her childhood. This offence shows the depravity of highest order by a man who is having control over the victim.
“…The man acts like a predator and treats the incident as a drunken banter. He is treating a woman like an object because he is in a position of dominance. There is no question of consent. It has happened to a hapless woman. It is not a case for any indulgence by the court.”
Citing a recent Supreme Court judgement, he said that police was under a legal obligation to register an FIR if the information discloses the commission of cognizable offence. The verdict further provides that action be taken against erring police officials who fail to register a case.
“First of all, this court has no jurisdiction as the offence took place in Goa. The complainant and the petitioner (Tejpal) were in Goa. The FIR was lodged in Goa. The girl recorded her statement to police in Mumbai and today, her statement under Section 164 of the CrPC is being recorded before a magistrate in Goa,” he said.
Rohatgi also refuted the plea of Tejpal that such allegations lose credibility as they were levelled almost after a year against a former Supreme Court judge and after 10 days against him.
“The Chief Justice has assured that the justice will be done to that girl, he said, adding that such offences are very serious in nature.
Tulsi, in his arguments, referred to the contents of the FIR alleging the girl has used words like “attempted” and “tried” in relation to the alleged offences and hence, they did not make out a case of rape as alleged by Goa Police.
Tulsi, counsel for Tejpal, said the registration of the FIR in the absence of girl showed the Goa Government’s “anxiety to derive political mileage out of it.”
At the end of the hearing, he also alleged that no FIR has been registered against the Gujarat Chief Minister in the snooping case despite the fact that the allegations revealed commission of cognizable offence.
He said that the victim’s version has to be taken with a “pinch of salt” as it did not disclose the commission of an offence.
Tejpal had during the hearing said, “I am a man enough to own my mistakes.”
After being reminded by Rohatgi and the judge, he said, “I admit indiscretion and not the offence alleged.”
The police first came with the version that that it was in the possession of CCTV footage and “if it is destroyed, then the valuable evidence will be destroyed”.
“I submit that the registration of FIR under Section 376 (rape) under the IPC is an abuse of power at behest of political masters,” he said during the hearing that continued for nearly two hours.
Citing various case laws, he said the High Court is competent to grant anticipatory bail to the accused.
Responding to the submissions, Rohatgi referred to the recent statement of the victim, recorded by Goa police in Mumbai yesterday and said a “very serious offence of rape under amended provision of the IPC has been committed, not once but twice, by this person who is the founding editor of the magazine, to his junior employee.(PTI)
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