Former Bharatiya Janata Party president Bangaru Laxman on Friday questioned Tehelka’s ex editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal’s courage and level of morality.
“This instance, which has come to light, was only possible because of that brave journalist. Otherwise, this has been the practice and method used by Tehelka to get their stories. And once these stories are ready, they use it to either blackmail people, or published it in the name of courageous journalism,” claimed Laxman, who had to as BJP president after a sting conducted by Tehelka showed him taking a bribe in a fake defense deal.
“They have conducted a sting operation. I don't know why they chose Bangaru Laxman.
I was hardly two months old as a president of the BJP. I was not even in the limelight of power politics. They must have thought that he is an innocent fellow and extracting information from him is an easy task,” he said.
“They came as the usual people, who used to come to me. I used to invite people. My whole house is free for people. That is why they went to my bedroom and kitchen, and shot there also. They thought that by using me, they can shake the NDA Government so that it will fall,” he added.
“Suddenly people, who supported him, made him a board member of the Prasar Bharti, and raised the taxation issue of his colleague Anirudh Behl. They received huge amounts from a publication house in London that is 75,000 pounds, and 2, 00,000 dollars from Washington. All these things were done, the moment the UPA Government came to power. Even the lawyers, who appeared on behalf of the Tehelka before Venkatswamy Commission, have been given different positions,” he said.
“Now, we can draw conclusions about the people, who were behind them. Now, Kapil Sibal says that he paid five lakh rupees for protecting the right to freedom of expression. Even today, the kind of reactions the Congress Party is giving shows that they support him,” he said of Kapil Sibal.
“All of these things have been exposed. Lot of stories has been going around about the past. Tejpal is a businessmen, his courageous journalism is just a cover. Now, the people are seeing what kind of courage is being implemented in the lift of the hotel. His true character has come in front of the people for the first time,” he said.
“If he was a courageous person, then he should have gone to the police on the first day itself. He should have told the police about what happened. He is avoiding the authorities for last twenty days. He tried to create a euphoria that he stands on high moral pedestal. He has to face the law and has to undergo whatever sin he has done,” he added.
Tejpal has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman colleague.
Sessions Judge Anuja Prabhudesai gave Tejpal interim protection from arrest on a bail application moved by his lawyers.
Tejpal's lawyers moved the court for bail after a joint team of Goa and Delhi police went to his residence in Delhi to arrest him this morning but did not find him there. Later they carried out searches at various other places, including that of his relatives.
Goa Police has summoned Tejpal to appear before it in connection with the sexual assault allegation against him.
Tejpal has been summoned in the wake of the recording of the statement made by the victim, a former woman journalist of Tehelka, before a Goa court.
She was allegedly sexually assaulted in a lift in a five-star hotel in Goa earlier this month.
The Delhi High Court had on Wednesday reserved its order on Tejpal's bail application till Friday. Tejpal had applied for anticipatory bail even before the Goa Police summoned him.
Tejpal has filed a petition before the high court alleging that there was conspiracy behind the allegations of sexual assault, that the woman journalist was lying, and described the incident as a 'light hearted banter'.
Goa Police had on November 22 lodged an FIR against Tejpal under IPC sections 376 (rape), 376 (2)(K) (rape by a person of a woman in his custody taking advantage of his official position) and 354 (outraging modesty). Conviction under section 376 of IPC entails a maximum of life term in jail.
Tejpal has suggested that the young journalist's version of events is not entirely accurate. But in an email to her sent on Tuesday, he had admitted to a "shameful lapse of judgment that led me to attempt a sexual liaison with you on two occasions on 7 November and 8 November 2013, despite your clear reluctance that you did not want such attention from me.
Goa Police was instructed by the state government to investigate her allegations, contained in the email by her to Chaudhury. That email was leaked to the press. The FIR against Tejpal lists rape by a person in a position of authority over the woman, an offence that carries a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison.
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