Archive · 6 Aug 2026
Tarun Tejpal Gets 10-Year Sentence in 2013 Sexual Assault Case
A long time ago, in 2013, a woman who used to work with a famous news reporter said he hurt her badly.
His name is Tarun Tejpal, and he used to lead a news magazine called Tehelka.
A court in Goa looked at the case.
In 2021, one judge said Tejpal was not guilty.
But a higher court did not agree.
On August 6, 2026, that higher court said he was guilty and decided he must go to prison for 10 years.
Tejpal says he will ask the country's highest court, the Supreme Court, to look at the case again.
Meanwhile, people have become interested in his family.
He has been married to Geetan Batra since 1985, and they have two grown-up daughters, Tiya and Cara.
Tiya makes movie sets as a production designer and is married to the actor Arjun Mathur.
Journalist and former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal was convicted on August 6, 2026, by the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court in a 2013 sexual assault case.
The court sentenced Tejpal to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment, and he has indicated plans to challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court.
The conviction overturns a 2021 acquittal by a sessions court in Goa, following allegations made by a former colleague.
Tejpal has been married to Geetan Batra since 1985, and the couple has two daughters, Tiya and Cara.
Daughter Tiya, a film production designer, is married to actor Arjun Mathur, known for the series Made in Heaven.
- Who
- Tarun Tejpal, journalist and former editor of Tehelka.
- What
- Convicted of sexual assault in a case dating to 2013 and sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.
- When
- Convicted on August 6, 2026; the allegations date back to 2013.
- Where
- By the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court, India; the criminal trial took place in Goa.
- Why
- A former colleague's 2013 complaint led to a criminal trial, and the High Court overturned a 2021 sessions court acquittal.
- Convicted
- Tarun Tejpal, journalist and former Tehelka editor
- Sentence
- 10 years of rigorous imprisonment
- Conviction date
- August 6, 2026
- Court
- Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court
- Case origin
- 2013 sexual assault allegation by a former colleague
- Earlier verdict
- Acquitted by a sessions court in 2021
- Next step
- Challenge planned in the Supreme Court
- Family
- Wife Geetan Batra (married since 1985); daughters Tiya and Cara Tejpal