Tejpal’s anticipatory bail plea hearing at 3.30 p.m.

New Delhi  :  The Delhi High Court Wednesday deferred till 3.30 p.m. the hearing of the anticipatory bail plea of Tehelka news magazine editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal.

Justice Sunita Gupta deferred the matter after a junior counsel pleaded before the court that senior counsel K.T.S. Tulsi, representing Tejpal, is busy at the Supreme Court and will be available after 3 p.m.

On Monday, the court declined to give any relief to Tejpal, who is facing charges of sexually assaulting a journalist colleague, and asked the police to file a response to his bail plea by Wednesday.

Goa Police opposed the bail application, saying the matter was serious in nature. The police also said they have not received a copy of the bail application.

A Tehelka journalist has accused Tejpal of sexually assaulting her twice at a five-star resort in Panaji earlir this month.

Tejpal Nov 22 asked investigators to “examine and release the CCTV footage so that the accurate version of events stands clearly revealed”.

He has said that the registration of a first information report (FIR) and the investigation by Goa Police was a result of the “BJP’s vendetta to satisfy a long standing grudge” against him for the investigative journalism he did against the party when it was in power at the centre.

In 2001, Tejpal was behind a sting operation on leaders of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government that exposed corruption in defence deals.

It resulted in the resignations of then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Bangaru Laxman and defence minister George Fernandes.

Tejpal claimed that the FIR in which he has been booked for rape was registered in “pursuance of a well-planned criminal conspiracy to falsely prosecute” him.

The investigation “is being used as an opportunity to satisfy the longstanding grudge of the political executive against the crusade, work and ideological stand of the present petitioner”, the petition said.