Mumbai, Aug 6: The Bombay High Court on Thursday sentenced former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment in the 2013 sexual assault case involving a junior colleague, hours after setting aside his acquittal and convicting him of rape and other offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

A division bench of Justices Neela Gokhale and Amit Jamsandekar announced the sentence and granted Tejpal two weeks’ time to surrender before the jail authorities.

Earlier in the day, the Justice Gokhale-led Bench had allowed the appeal filed by the Goa government against the May 2021 judgment of a sessions court in Mapusa, which had acquitted Tejpal of all charges.

Pronouncing the verdict, the Bombay High Court convicted Tejpal under Sections 376(2)(f) and 376(2)(k) (rape), 354A (sexual harassment) and 354B (assault or use of criminal force against a woman with intent to disrobe) of the IPC. It had then posted the sentencing for later in the day.

During the hearing on the question of sentence, Tejpal’s counsel sought suspension of the conviction for eight weeks to enable him to approach the Supreme Court, submitting that the verdict had reversed an acquittal and highlighting that there was no other criminal case against him.

Addressing the Justice Gokhale-led Bench, Tejpal also pleaded for leniency, stating that he believed himself to be a victim and requested the High Court to take a compassionate view while deciding the sentence.

Opposing the plea, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that the case required a strong message against sexual violence, contending that “when a girl says no, it means no”.

The case stems from allegations made by a junior colleague that Tejpal sexually assaulted her inside an elevator of a luxury hotel in Goa during an event in November 2013.

The Goa Police registered an FIR against Tejpal for offences including rape, following which he was arrested in November 2013 after a local court rejected his anticipatory bail plea.

He was granted regular bail by the Supreme Court in July 2014.

In May 2021, Additional Sessions Judge Kshama Joshi acquitted Tejpal, holding that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt and citing alleged lapses in the investigation, including failure to produce certain evidence such as CCTV footage.

The Goa government challenged the acquittal before the Bombay High Court, contending that the trial court had erred in appreciating the evidence on record.

During the appeal hearing, the prosecution argued that the Sessions Court had focussed on the survivor’s post-incident conduct and background instead of assessing the evidence against the accused. It also submitted that the trial court ignored material evidence, including an apology email allegedly sent by Tejpal after the complainant raised the allegations with the then Managing Editor of the publication.

Mumbai, Aug 6: The Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Centre, highlighting a NITI Aayog report that lays bare the critical state of India’s school infrastructure.

In an editorial in its mouthpiece, ‘Saamana’, the party said, “The editorial noted that as Gen Z youth take to the streets to protest against systemic failures in education, frequent paper leaks, and rising unemployment, the government’s own think tank has exposed severe structural deficiencies. While the paper-leak scams commercialising the education sector had already brought shame upon the BJP-led government at the Centre, the NITI Aayog report has now forced the government to hide its face in embarrassment.”

Despite steady population growth, the NITI Aayog report revealed that approximately 1,00,000 schools have shut down nationwide, while student dropout rates prior to Class 12 have reached a staggering 40 per cent. Statistics indicated that out of every ten primary school enrollees, nearly four drop out before completing higher secondary education, said the editorial.

The editorial highlighted that over the past eight to nine years, around 92,000 schools have closed. Although official channels attribute part of this reduction to school consolidation due to low enrollment, overall school count dropped by nearly 1,00,000 despite a growing population. More than 1,00,000 primary schools nationwide function with only a single teacher responsible for handling all subjects across Classes 1 through 4. Conversely, 7,993 schools currently report zero enrolled students despite maintaining active staff. Out of 24.69 crore students enrolled across 14.71 lakh schools, primary school enrollment stands at 90.9 per cent but sharply plummets to 58.4 per cent by the higher secondary level (Class 12).

The editorial argued that widespread discontent — demonstrated during recent youth protests at Jantar Mantar over paper leaks and exam corruption — has severely undermined claims of global educational leadership (“Vishwaguru”).

Identifying poverty and escalation in educational expenses as the main drivers of the high dropout rate, the Thackeray camp noted that higher secondary education costs three to five times more than primary schooling. Burdened by rising tuition fees, exam fees, and travel costs, many families are forced to pull children out of school early, while the Central Education Ministry remains passive.

Questioning the efficacy of existing policy protections, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena asked, “If the students of this country are destined for such distress, what good is the Right to Education Act – should it be thrown into the fire?”

Mumbai: The police have claimed to have arrested a fugitive accused who was wanted for 9 years in a murder case. He was arrested during a search in Goa and Karnataka. In 2017, a tea vendor’s brother, Vizagullah Mohsin, was called by his acquaintance and then in a Bhangarh area under the MIDC limits, Sahib Rao said that he had informed the police. After that, Sahib Rao along with Feroz, Sabir Ali and others surrounded Vizagullah and his relative and then attacked Vizagullah with a pipe from Lokhand, which led to his death. The police had already arrested 6 accused in this murder case. In this, the wanted accused Mehtab Alam Azmatullah was the absconding accused and he was later declared a declared accused. After that, the police received information about the absconding accused that he was hiding his identity and working as a Scorpio in Karnataka. On this basis, the police confirmed it from his relatives and his social media accounts and then laid a trap and arrested him from Karnataka. This action has been taken by Senior Inspector Ghanshyam Nair of DCP Dutta Nalode MIDC on the behest of Mumbai Police Commissioner Devin Bharti.