NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday questioned Congress’ silence over the recent conviction of former Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal in a 2013 sexual assault case.In a press conference, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi accused Congress and other opposition parties of having a “one-dimensional, one-sided and prejudiced” thinking on issues like freedom of expression or the persecution of women.“Just recently, Tarun Tejpal, the editor-in-chief of the controversial magazine Tehelka, was found guilty by the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court in a 2013 rape case and sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. This matter is important today because, even after so many days have passed, not a single word has been heard from the Congress side,” Trivedi said.“Nor from any opposition party, nor from any institution that proclaims itself the self-appointed protector of women’s interests. This shows how one-dimensional, one-sided, and prejudiced the thinking is on issues like freedom of expression or the persecution of women,” he added.During the press conference, the BJP leader also alleged that Tejpal had a connection with Congress leadership, claiming that Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to then finance minister P Chidambaram directing him not to harass the magazine. He also said that UPA government awarded Tejpal the Excellence in Journalism Award in 2010.“This is the very business house that had conducted a bizarre kind of sting operation. When Atal Ji’s government constituted an inquiry commission under the chairmanship of Justice Phukan, it was an opportunity when the sting-operating group refused to hand over the entire tapes for verification. There couldn’t be more suspicion than this. And when the inquiry report came, by then the government had changed, and the Congress government never even tabled that inquiry report on the floor of the House,” he said.“When the BJP government raised the issue, a 41-page summary report was tabled on the floor of the House. And today, when the culprits have been proven guilty, I want to remind everyone that their connection is with Congress… During the UPA era, Supreme Leader Sonia Gandhi ji wrote a letter to the then finance minister P Chidambaram sahib on September 25–27, 2004, stating that there should be no harassment of Tehelka and its financier in any manner. Positive treatment should be accorded to them. Today, I want to ask the Congress: Was your government engaging in unfair treatment at that time? In 2010, the then law minister Veerappa Moily sahib awarded him the Excellence in Journalism Award. Today, this is their situation, and not a single word is coming out of your mouth,” he added.This comes after Bombay high court found Tejpal guilty of rape and sentenced him to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment. The sentence was pronounced in the state’s challenge to Tejpal’s acquittal by the trial court in 2021.This comes 13 years after Tarun Tejpal was arrested in November 2013 following allegations that he had sexually assaulted a junior colleague inside a hotel elevator during an event organised by Tehelka magazine in Goa.
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The sessions court at Mapusa acquitted him in May 2021, prompting Goa government to challenge the verdict before the HC.The high court termed the trial court’s verdict as “perverse”, noting that it fell for the notion that a sexual assault complainant must be a “perfect victim” and conduct herself in a certain way so as to appear credible.The court asked Tejpal to surrender within two weeks but later extended the period to four weeks at the request of his lawyers. The journalist has claimed that he was a political victim and would approach the Supreme Court to challenge his conviction.
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