The Fast Track Court in Panaji on Saturday passed an order directing the prosecution in the Tehelka woman journalist >sexual assault case to take steps/arrange to make copies/mirror images/clone copies of all the material/hard drive/electronic records in the court along with the charge sheet and give the same to the accused.
A 44-page order passed by Additional Sessions Judge Vijaya Pol directed that these be made available to the accused within 20 days of her order.
The order thus asked the prosecution to supply to the accused all material which is part of the charge sheet, forwarded to the Court and that before the Investigating Officer (IO), if not given to the accused.
Further, the judge adjourned to May 13 the hearing of another application from the prosecution in the case seeking permission of the Court for further investigation under Section 173(8) of CrPc, and posted an order on application of the accused under Section 228(a) of CrPc seeking filing of an FIR against Investigating Officer(IO), Crime Branch of Goa Police for allegedly divulging the identity of the victim in her charge sheet filed against accused, co-founder of Tehelka magazine Tarun Tejpal in Februrry this year. The prosecution has denied the charges before the Court.
In his application while Mr. Tejpal had sought unedited CCTV coverage of the Goa five star hotel from November 7 to 29, 2013, the Court, after hearing the prosecution asked to give the footage from November 7 to 26, which is what the prosecution had obtained.
The accusedhas sought, among other documents, the unedited >CCTV footage of the five star hotel in Goa from November 7 to 29, 2013, where the alleged incident had happened during annual ThinkFest of Tehelka magazine in early November, last year.
Mr. Tejpal, accused in the case, who is presently in Judicial Custody at Sada Sub Jail, Vasco in south Goa, was present in the court during the hearing, along with his family members.
Later, outside the Court on Saturday, prosecution lawyer said that they have been given four weeks by the >Supreme Court on April 21 last to file their say over the bail application moved by Mr. Tejpal. The next hearing in the Supreme Court is likely to be held somewhere in July, he said.
