Rape Victim 'Named And Shamed': Goa Govt To Bombay HC In Tarun Tejpal Case

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, representing the Goa government, stated before the High Court bench that the prosecutrix (woman) was "named and shamed".

Former editor-in-chief of Tehelka magazine Tarun Tejpal. (File Photo)

New Delhi: The victim in a 2013 rape case, in which journalist Tarun Tejpal was acquitted, was named and shamed and the trial court's judgement was “retrograde” and “fit for fifth century”, the Goa government on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court.

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, representing the Goa government, stated before the High Court bench that the prosecutrix (woman) was "named and shamed".

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Mehta termed the trial court’s judgment as “retrograde” and “fit for fifth century”.

The Goa bench of the High Court, comprising Justices Revati Mohite Dere and M.S. Jawalkar, later adjourned the hearing into the matter till November 16.

Justice Dere during the hearing, which was held in virtual mode, said “in not just this case, but in all the cases of rape, we will not allow lawyers to read the evidence, we will read it ourselves”, PTI reported.

The High Court will on November 16 hear Tejpal’s application challenging the maintainability of the state government's appeal against his acquittal in the case.

This matter came up before the High Court's division bench when Amit Desai, the lawyer representing the former editor-in-chief of the Tehelka magazine, submitted to the court to consider two applications filed by the journalist.

A sessions’ court had on May 21 this year acquitted Tejpal in the case where he was accused of sexually assaulting his then colleague in a lift of a five-star hotel in Goa earlier in November 2013 when they were attending an event.

The Goa government had later filed an appeal against it in the High Court.