Tejpal's bail plea order likely on Friday

PANAJI: Making a strong plea for his release on bail, Tehelka's founder editor Tarun Tejpal's lawyer on Wednesday alleged before the high court of Bombay at Goa that the statements of the three witnesses recorded by the crime branch are "identical". Senior counsel Amit Desai, who appeared for Tejpal, was referring to the statements of the witnesses, in whom the survivor confided about the alleged incident.

He asked the high court how three different persons can describe the same incident in the exact same words. The high court is likely to pass an order in the matter on Friday.

Tejpal has been in jail for the past 102 days for allegedly raping a colleague during an event in Goa in November 2013.

Desai also told the court that the CCTV footage does not contain any evidence to substantiate the charge of rape. Parts of the CCTV footage produced by the prosecution as evidence are a total lie, he added. Referring to three emails of the survivor, dated November 16, 18 and 26, which she sent to her colleagues describing the incident, Desai alleged that the emails dated November 16 and 18, were embellished and exaggerated.

During the hearing of the case, senior counsel Saresh Lotlikar appearing on behalf of the prosecution, strongly opposed the bail. Relying upon judgments of the apex court, he said that time spent by the accused in jail cannot be a determinative factor for granting bail. "If granted bail, the accused will influence witnesses and deflect the course of law. Majority of the witnesses are employees and ex-employees of the accused," Lotlikar said. Arguing that granting bail to the accused at this stage is not right, Lotlikar said the survivor was traumatized by the messages she received from the family of the accused.

"He cannot be expected to be disciplined if released on bail. The manner in which the accused has conducted himself in jail as well as out of the jail has also to be taken into account," Lotlikar submitted.