Panaji: Goa police on Wednesday issued summons to Tehelka s former Managing Editor Shoma Chaudhury and three others to record their statements before a magistrate in the case relating to Tarun Tejpal's alleged sexual assault of a woman colleague of the magazine.
Deputy Inspector General of police OP Mishra said that the summons have been issued to Chaudhury and the others but refused to divulge when they will be called to record the statements. However, sources said they may be called on Friday or Saturday for recording the statements.
Chaudhury and three witnesses are the one in whom the victim had confided about what transpired between her and Tejpal at a five-star hotel on two occasions when the accused had allegedly sexually assaulted her during an event organized in Goa in November.
Goa police had earlier sought permission from the chief judicial magistrate to summon Chaudhury and three witnesses to record their statements before it and the magistrate has agreed to record their statements.
Any statement or confession recorded by a metropolitan or judicial magistrate under section 164 of CrPC is admissible as evidence in a court and if the person retracts from it can be tried on the charge of perjury.
A team of Goa police had already recorded Chaudhury's statement in Delhi before she quit as Managing Editor amid outrage over her alleged attempts to cover up the incident allegedly involving Tejpal.
Chaudhury's statement is "very crucial" as she was the first person to have come to know of alleged sexual assault on the young journalist by Tejpal.
Tejpal was on Wednesday subjected to a second round of medical tests, just a couple of days after he had undergone several medical examinations, including a potency test, whose result was positive.
Goa Chief Minister Manohar at a press conference in Wednesday, Parrikar said the police would file the charge sheet in the case in one to one and half months but ruled and political interference in the investigations.
Parrikar also said he would ensure that Tejpal is done justice in the case. "I will ensure that justice is given to Tejpal. Justice does not mean not to punish him but a fair investigation would be conducted in the matter," he said.
Meanwhile, Judicial Magistrate First Class Kshama Joshi rejected Tejpal's application for a fan in the lock-up where he is in police custody since Saturday. On December 2, Tejpal's lawyer had petitioned the court for a fan to be installed in the lock up on humanitarian grounds.
A woman journalist of Tehelka, who later resigned, has accused Tejpal of sexually assaulting her twice on November 7 and 8 in Goa. Tejpal has been booked under Sections 354A (outraging the modesty of a woman) and 376 (2)(K) (custodial
rape) of IPC.
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