Informant cannot be investigator in case against him: Tejpal to SC

Tehelka magazine's founder Tarun Tejpal, accused in a case of alleged rape lodged by a former woman colleague, today told the Supreme Court that the police officer who was investigating the case against him was also the informant.

A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan was told by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Tejpal, that the apex court had recently ruled that informant and investigator cannot be the same person.

The bench said it will go through the verdict delivered on August 16, which said that "justice must not only be done, but must appear to be done also. Any possibility of bias or a predetermined conclusion has to be excluded".

It adjourned the matter for further hearing for next week.

The verdict delivered by a bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi had held that "a fair investigation, which is but the very foundation of fair trial, necessarily postulates that the informant and the investigator must not be the same person".

On April 9, the apex court had directed a Goa court to complete the trial against Tejpal within a year.

Tejpal had challenged the Bombay High Court's December 20, 2017 order dismissing his plea for quashing of rape charges.

He had argued that there were several inconsistencies in the statements recorded by the victim and the CCTV footage but the trial court has not considered it.

He had contended when the proceedings had started, the police had not given him the clone copy of cell phone saying there was no such technology available.

Tejpal is alleged to have sexually assaulted a former colleague inside the elevator of a five-star hotel in Goa in 2013. He has denied all allegations levelled against him. He was arrested on November 30, 2013 by the Crime Branch after his anticipatory bail plea was rejected by the court. He has been out on bail since May 2014.

Earlier, Tejpal had claimed there were certain inconsistencies in the video recordings and the statements of the victim recorded under section 164 of CrPC before the magistrate.

The Bombay High Court bench in Goa had on December 20 last year dismissed Tejpal's plea seeking quashing of charges against him.

The trial court in Mapusa town of Goa had framed charges against Tejpal under various sections of IPC, including alleged sexual harassment and provisions related to rape.

On December 6 last year, the apex court had asked the lower court to start examining witnesses in the 2013 case, saying there would be no stay of the trial.