Tarun Tejpal

Tarun Tejpal

Tejpal at la Fureur de lire 2007, Geneva, Switzerland
Born Tarun Tejpal
(1963-03-15) 15 March 1963
Jalandhar, Punjab, India
Nationality Indian
Occupation Journalist
Known for Founder of Tehelka
Criminal charge Sexual assault[1]
Criminal status On Bail

Tarun Tejpal (born 15 March 1963) is an Indian journalist, publisher, novelist and former editor-in-chief of Tehelka magazine. In November 2013, he stepped down as editor for six months after a female colleague accused him of sexual assault. He was arrested on 30 November 2013 and is currently on bail.[1][2]

Early life and career

Tejpal's father was in the Indian Army and because of this, he grew up in many parts of country. He graduated in economics from Panjab University in Chandigarh.[3][4] Tejpal met Geetan Batra in 1984 while in college and married her in 1985; they have two daughters, Tiya and Cara.

He began his career in 1980s, with the The Indian Express and he moved to New Delhi to join a now defunct magazine called India 2000. In 1984, he joined India Today magazine, then The Financial Express in 1994 and later helped found the rival publication, Outlook, where he worked for several years. Meanwhile he founded a publishing company, India Ink, which published Arundhati Roy's Booker Prize winning novel The God of Small Things in 1998.[3][5]

He left Outlook in March 2000, to start tehelka.com, an online independent news and views magazine which soon came to be known for its sting investigations, mainly for Operation West End.[6][7][8] The website was relaunched as a national weekly newspaper, Tehelka in January 2007, it became a weekly magazine.

In 2010, He was presented with Award for Excellence in Journalism by the International Press Institute's India Chapter Award[9] In 2001 Business Week named him as amongst the 50 leaders at the forefront of change in Asia,[10] later in 2009, the magazine named him amongst, "India's 50 Most Powerful People 2009".[11] The Guardian included him in its list of "India's elite" for being a "Pioneer of a brand of sting journalism which has transformed Indian media" in 2006.[12]

Sexual assault allegation

On 20 November 2013, Tehelka magazine informed its staff that Tejpal was stepping down as editor for six months, after a woman colleague alleged that she had been sexually assaulted by him.[13] This received intense public attention and media scrutiny especially because Tejpal and his magazine had previously been involved in highlighting the issue of sexual violence in India,[14] including in a special issue on the topic in February of the year.[15] Police in the state of Goa, where the incident took place, have filed a First Information Report (FIR) which lists charges, including rape, against him. A non-bailable warrant was issued against him by the Goa Police.[16] He was arrested by Goa police on 30 November 2013.[17] On 1 July 2014, Supreme Court granted him bail and asked him to submit his passport to the court.[18]

Novels

Tejpal's debut novel The Alchemy of Desire (2006), won Le Prix Mille Pages, it was followed by Story of my Assassins (2010).[19] The Valley of Masks (2011) was longlisted for Man Asian Literary Prize 2011.[20] The Alchemy of Desire got Tejpal nominated for the Bad Sex Award in Britain.[21]

References

  1. 1 2 "Tarun Tejpal's judicial remand extended by 14 days". Dnaindia. 10 February 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  2. ↑ "Tarun Tejpal accused of rape, gets bail from SC". Patrika Group (in Hindi). Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Eminents Authors: Tarun Tejpal".
  4. ↑ Mehul Srivastava; Nandini Lakshman. "India's 50 Most Powerful People 2009". Businessweek. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  5. ↑ Ravi Shankar. "For once Tejpal's words failed him". Live Mint. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  6. ↑ "Who's Who @ Tehelka". Tehelka website.
  7. ↑ "Tarun Tejpal". Businessweek. 1 July 2001. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  8. ↑ Vidhi Choudhry. "Tarun Tejpal seeks anticipatory bail in 'Tehelka' sexual assault case". Live Mint. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  9. ↑ Jiby Kattakayam (13 January 2011). "Moily: solution to decriminalise defamation under consideration". NEW DELHI: The Hindu. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  10. ↑ Harper Collins
  11. ↑ "India's 50 Most Powerful People 2009". Business Week. April 2009.
  12. ↑ Amelia Gentleman (26 November 2006). "Stars of India". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  13. ↑ Reuters (22 November 2013). "Tarun Tejpal, Tehelka Editor, Faces Sexual Assault Allegations". New Delhi: Huffingtonpost. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  14. ↑ >Ellen Barry (22 November 2013). "Editor in India, Known for Investigations into Corruption, Is Accused of Rape". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  15. ↑ Tunku Varadarajan (25 November 2013). "The Fall of India's Conscience". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  16. ↑ "Goa police file FIR against Tarun Tejpal for rape of colleague". Times of India. 23 November 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  17. ↑ "Tehelka case: Denied bail, Tarun Tejpal arrested by Goa Police : South, News – India Today". Indiatoday.intoday.in. 30 November 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  18. ↑ "Tarun Tejpal accused of rape, gets bail from SC". Patrika Group (in Hindi). Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  19. ↑ site Alchemy
  20. ↑ "About Tarun Tejpal". The Man Asian Literary Award. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  21. ↑ "Rushdie, Tejpal in race for Britain's Bad Sex award". The Times of India. 30 November 2005. Retrieved 22 November 2013.

External links

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