Was The Goa Court Biased In Acquitting Tarun Tejpal

Timeline

23rd November 2013- An FIR was filed against Tarun Tejpal for assaulting her junior colleague

30th November 2013 - Anticipatory bail was rejected by the court and he was placed under arrest

July 2014:Tejpal was granted bail

28th September 2017: Charges were framed by session court against Tarun Tejpal

19th August 2019: Supreme Court rejects his plea to quash the FIR filed against him

21st May 2021: He was acquitted of all the charges by a fast track court in Mapusa, Goa.

Criticism

• The judge was held accountable for the indecent details about the woman's sex life that surfaced throughout the trial.
• She has been slammed by critics for stating that the woman's behaviour following the alleged sexual assault was not "normative."

Observations made by the Judge

• According to victim’s friend, she was happy and smiling when she approached him right after she was assaulted
• The judge also discovered that the lift doors on the bottom floor opened twice during the relevant two minutes, contradicting the woman's statement that the lift doors did not open.
• Victim’s mother had neither insisted that she return to her Mumbai apartment nor had she chosen to visit Goa. The judge expressed concern about the mother's actions.
• The woman refused to have a medical checkup, which could have aided her case. She cited fear of the police as the reason for not filing a report following the alleged assaults.
• The accused had submitted an apology and an email, both of which the complainant thought were insufficient.
• Judge cited a Supreme Court decision which stated that no matter how strong the court's moral beliefs and convictions are unless the accused's guilt is shown beyond a reasonable doubt based on legal evidence and material on record, he cannot be convicted of an offence.

What do you think, Judge Joshi overstepped her legal bounds or provided an evidence-based decision in this case?