Supreme Court directs Tarun Tejpal to surrender within two weeks in 2013 rape case

The Supreme Court on 25 August 2026 directed journalist Tarun Tejpal to surrender within two weeks in the 2013 rape case in which a Goa court sentenced him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.

A single-judge bench of Justice Alok Aradhe said the appeal would be heard only after a certificate of surrender is filed on or before 22 September 2026. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State of Goa, argued that Tejpal must first surrender before the appeal is listed. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, for Tejpal, sought listing of the appeal first.

Tejpal, former editor of Tehelka, was convicted by a trial court in Goa for the rape of a junior colleague during a magazine event in 2013. He has remained out of custody while pursuing appeals. The Supreme Court order ends that arrangement for the present.

The case has moved through multiple layers of the judiciary over more than a decade. The conviction and sentence were upheld by the Goa High Court before the matter reached the Supreme Court. The latest order focuses solely on the procedural requirement of surrender rather than on the merits of the appeal.

Once the surrender certificate is filed, the court will fix a date for hearing the challenge to both conviction and sentence. Until then Tejpal must present himself to the authorities as directed.

The decision follows the court's consistent practice of requiring accused persons to surrender when an appeal is listed after a conviction has been affirmed by a high court. No further observations on the facts of the case were made in the 25 August order.