Will Tarun Tejpal be arrested? Decision likely by 10 am

Panaji: Whether Tehelka founder-editor Tarun Tejpal goes to jail or not would be decided by 10 am on Saturday, with his interim bail set to end by that hour.

If the Tehelka editor, who faces allegations of sexual assault, fails to secure an anticipatory bail from North Goa District and Sessions Judge Anuja Prabhudessai by 10 am, police are likely to arrest him immediately. Tejpal landed in Goa on Friday evening after dodging Goa Police for more than 24 hours, after the deadline for him to respond to police summons. His legal team, which appeared before the court on Friday, had managed to secure interim relief until 10 the next day, claiming that the editor was being politically victimised and the charges levelled against him were fabricated. The crime branch, which is investigating the case, wants custodial interrogation of Tejpal, who has been accused of sexually assaulting a junior colleague at a resort in Goa earlier this month.