After Newslaundry, More Notable Voices Forced to Eat Words: How Bollywood Lobby and Journalist Vinod Mehta Defended Rape Convict Tarun Tejpal

WHEN TARUN TEJPAL was accused of sexually assaulting a junior colleague in 2013, the case became more than a criminal allegation. On record, the person on trial was the founder and Editor-in-chief of Tehelka, but in public the real hard-hitting questions were asked from the victim. The story quickly became about how far professional friendships and influence could go in protecting one of India’s most powerful journalists. The Bombay High Court pronouncing Tejpal guilty of rape and other charges on August 6, 2026, has now brought back those voices and put them under public scrutiny.

After Newslaundry faced backlash over its 2014 article addressed to Tejpal’s rape victim that defended the Tehelka editor, the media outlet was made to eat its own words and take it down. But it wasn’t just the Newslaundry who came to support him, the lobbying of the senior journalist included prominent voices like Javed Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap, and Vinod Mehta. 

When Vinod Mehta Called Rape a “Non-Consensual Carnal Favour”

One of the most striking accounts came from veteran journalist and former Outlook editor Vinod Mehta, who had employed Tejpal as his deputy. In his memoir Editor Unplugged: Media, Magnates, Netas and Me, Mehta wrote that Tejpal was known to use his official position to “hit on interns and juniors” for both consensual and “presumably non-consensual carnal favours.” The phrase immediately drew criticism when excerpts from the memoir surfaced online.

Mehta also wrote that he had “got a whiff of his style” while Tejpal was working under him. But since no formal complaint had been made, he said, “we did not have a crisis in the office.” The problem with the description was striking as Mehta, in so many words, admitted that Tejpal was using a position of authority to obtain sexual acts without consent. Therefore, calling it a “favour” appears to soften what could amount to sexual assault or rape.

Mehta also referred to Tejpal’s alleged “manic libido” and attributed to writer William Dalrymple the description of Tejpal having an “exceedingly charming sexual aura which women find difficult to resist.” Dalrymple later denied making the remark.

The larger question around Mehta’s own account was even more disturbing. Fellow journalists pointed out that if he had apparently heard concerns about Tejpal’s behaviour towards interns and juniors, why was no action taken? The controversy at the time was not merely about whether Tejpal was guilty or innocent. It was also about how workplace power-dynamics were being discussed and disregarded. 

See Also: When Newslaundry Penned a "Loving Letter" to Tarun Tejpal’s Rape Victim, Blaming Her For The Assault and Calling Her a Flagpole of “Bubblegum Feminism”

After the Bombay High Court’s order, senior journalist Barkha Dutt pointed to Vinod Mehta and other Tejpal apologists, calling them out for failing women. In an X post, she wrote, “Non consensual carnal favour is- abuse, assault and rape. Tejpals’s entitled impunity and all those who threw their protection around him , either in the name of friendship or politics , were disgraceful, disingenuous and failed women.”

Anurag Kashyap Defended Tarun Tejpal After Seeing Incomplete CCTV Footage

Another major controversy erupted around CCTV footage from the hotel where the alleged assault took place. Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap publicly defended Tejpal in April 2014, writing on Facebook, “I have seen the CCTV footage too and none of what the girl says about Tarun Tejpal is true.”

However, many pointed out a major limitation of the footage — the cameras were outside the elevator. There was no CCTV footage of what allegedly happened inside the lift itself. The Goa bench of the Bombay High Court had earlier observed, while considering Tejpal’s bail plea, that the CCTV footage did not prima facie help establish his innocence because it did not cover the incident inside the lift.

Senior journalist Seema Mustafa also wrote about the CCTV footage in The Citizen. Her article claimed that what happened around the lift did not resemble the survivor’s account and pointed to the absence of “visible agitation” in the footage. The Network of Women in Media, India protested the coverage, arguing that such reporting disregarded legal and journalistic norms surrounding the case.

See Also: Bihar Shocker: Rape Survivor Forced to Lick Own Spit, Humiliated by Panchayat in Begusarai

Javed Akhtar Retracted His “Impeccable Values” Remark About Tejpal

In November 2013, shortly after the allegations became public, poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar addressed the Tejpal case while at least acknowledging the sexual assault albeit in a controversial manner. He tweeted that it was a shame that a man with “impeccable values” had committed such an act, but added that Tejpal had “the guts to accept and repent.”

The comment immediately triggered backlash. Akhtar later deleted the tweet and clarified that he had not known the “gruesome details” of the allegations and had initially understood the incident to be drunken misbehaviour at a party. He said he took back his words.

However, the original remark remains significant because it showed how quickly Tejpal’s reputation among peers became part of the discourse rather than his actions. Instead of the focus being entirely on the allegation and the survivor, the debate also became about whether a celebrated journalist and editor was capable of committing such an act.

This was one of the recurring patterns around the case: Tejpal’s professional achievements, personality and reputation were repeatedly placed on one side of the scale, while the survivor’s conduct was placed on the other. The result was a public conversation in which the woman making the allegation often found herself being examined more closely than the man accused of assaulting her.

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