Politics, Privilege, and the Scales of Justice
This first week of August has seen two different courts deliver two diametrically opposite judgments in two similar rape cases. The high profile cases were heard by the Goa Bench of Bombay High Court and Delhi Trial Court. Though the crime was the same, rape, the accused were of entirely different backgrounds. Both the cases had attracted national attention, had media trial and were of political nature. These two are classic examples to know how the judiciary works in the country and what the political connections mean. One case belongs to 2013 and the other to 2023. While the first had journalists and the second consists of wrestlers.
A Study in Contrasts: High-Profile Justice in Focus
In the first case, the Editor-in-Chief of Tehelka, Tarun Tejpal was facing an allegation that he molested his junior employee in a lift at a hotel in Goa. The other was about the BJP Member of Parliament Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was also the chairman of the Wrestling Federation of India, facing the molestation allegation from renowned women boxers of Haryana including Vinesh Poghat. The Goa Bench of Bombay High Court had reversed the trial court judgment and pronounced Tarun Tejpal guilty and sentenced him to ten years imprisonment on August 6. Brij Bhushan, on the other hand, was declared innocent by the Delhi trial court on August 3. The BJP government was against Tarun Tejpal and it is in favour of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh who was denied party ticket to contest election in 2024. While Tarun Tejpal was found not guilty by the trial court in Goa, the HC has reversed it. Tarun Tejpal declared that he would appeal to Supreme Court alleging that the political establishment has been indulging in vendetta politics. Vinesh Poghat also said she would appeal to the High Court against the judgment of the trial court. Will the High Court reverse the Delhi trial court’s judgment and find Brij Bhushan guilty. To know the answer to this important question, one has to understand the background of the two cases.
Inside the Tejpal Trial: Key Events and Early Rulings
The Tehelka magazine had made a name for it in investigative journalism. In one of the investigative stories, it exposed the BJP government in Goa. Tehelka conducted a conclave in Goa in November 2013. Most of the employees of Tehelka were in Goa to organize the show and all of them stayed in hotels. At one of the hotels, Tarun Tejpal had allegedly assaulted his junior employee in a lift. The survivor confided in her colleagues the same evening and after a week emailed the assault details to her immediate boss, the managing editor, insisting on an apology and an internal inquiry. Tejpal responded with two apology emails before the matter became public and an FIR was registered. He was tried in a trial court on charges including ‘rape by a person in a position of trust and dominance (Sections 376(2)(f) and (k) of the Indian Penal Code) along with assault, sexual harassment, wrongful restraint and confinement. In May 2021, Additional Sessions Judge Kshama Joshi at Mapusa acquitted Tarun Tejpal on every account. The Goa government appealed in the High Court.
High Court Intervenes: Rejection of Moral Profiling
The Additional Sessions Judge who acquitted Tejpal at the trial court did not bother about the facts of the case. He went by his own assessment of the character of the survivor and her behavior after the alleged assault. The judge also considered the two apology emails as not admissible as they were obtained after coercion. The High Court has the powers to reject the conclusion of the trial court if it is convinced that the facts were not taken into consideration and there were presumptions on the part of the judge. The defense argued that the survivor’s composure at the Goa event and the talk of severance package showed no genuine trauma on her part. It even alleged that she tried extortion. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state of Goa, argued that the cross-examination has put the victim and not the respondent on trial. He told the High Court that embarrassing questions were put to the complainant during her cross-examination which was invasive and humiliating.
The High Court rejected the trial court conclusions on the survivor’s past sexual history, moral views and personal WhatsApp messages. It said it violates the statutory embargoes that prohibit questioning victim’s character and past relationships.
Protests, Oversight, and Legal Impediments
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s story is entirely different. When the accused sexual predator enjoys the government public protection to the point that complainants are beaten and dragged by police in full view of the cameras while marching to Parliament- and on that very day the accused himself is shown by the Godi media sitting smugly in his seat applauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is such an important leader in the BJP. He was an MP from Kaisergunj in UP. While the Goa police had filed a case against Tarun Tejpal as soon as news about the alleged assault was published in newspapers without the victim or anyone complaining, the wrestlers had to do demonstrations and the Supreme Court had to intervene for the police to file a case against Brij Bhushan some months after six wrestlers complained against him.
The government had appointed a oversight committee which white washed in its report. He had to resign as chairman of the Wrestlers Federation of India before a case was filed. Their written complaints to the police ranged from groping, touching the breast and navel, to stalking, intimidation and demands of sexual favours in return for professional benefits. Any party with a minimum sense of morality would have at least suspended him. Not the BJP – which had already brazened out the case of its UP leader and MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, later convicted of raping a minor, whom it protected and expelled only two years after the case was reported. In Brij Bhushan’s case, the Delhi Police, under the jurisdiction of Home Minister Amit Shah simply refused to file an FIR till the Supreme Court ordered.
The UP Factor: Power, Politics, and Judicial Trajectories
The prosecution, it is said, failed to prove guilt ‘beyond reasonable doubt.’ The delay is filing the case also was cited as a reason for Brij Bhuhsan to get acquitted. The judgment came at a time when India is also witnessing a toxic, misogynistic backlash against young women who were so active in the historic Jantar Mantar student struggle led by the Cockroach Janata Party. They are being doxxed, stalked and threatened with rape – anything to silence and punish them. When the PM calls it a ‘cultural shock’ to hear young women use cuss words, he stamps his approval on sexist abuse by men in his social media team.
The moment the trial court acquitted Brij Bhushan, a ‘sneh milan’ programme was organized in Noida on Tuesday where posters featuring Singh and his two sons – Kaisargunj MP Karan Bhushan Singh and Gonda MLA Prateek Bhushan Singh were displayed. The supporters shouted slogans like “Satya ki jeet hui (The truth has triumphed)” If the Delhi High Court would not reverse the trial court’s judgment, Brij Bhsuhan will be back in active politics. The Assembly elections in UP are due in 2027. Brij Bhushan has influence at least in 25 Assembly constituencies. He is a leader who will be very useful to Yogi Adityanath, Amit Shah and Narendra Modi.
The six women wrestlers who complained are not important for the BJP. What is good for the BJP is likely to be good for the judiciary as well. Otherwise, Solicitor General Tushar Mehat who argued against Tarun Tejpal should appear in Delhi High Court and argue on behalf of the wrestlers with the same gusto so that Brij Bhushan could be proved guilty.
Prominent Journalist
Dr. K. Ramachandra Murthy is a versatile journalist with a distinguished career. Dr. Murthy began his extensive career with Andhra Prabha of The Indian Express group in Bengaluru. He was editor of Udayam, Vaartha and Andhra Jyothy. Dr. Murthy founded and edited HMTV news channel and The Hans India, an English newspaper. He was also editorial director of the Telugu newspaper, Saakshi. He was awarded Ph. D for his research work in rural reporting. Dr. Murthy’s five decades in journalism showcases his influential roles across both print and electronic media. He wrote the political biography of NTR published by Harper Collins.
Email: murthykondubhatla@gmail.com
Mobile: 9908002211
