Over six months after the Delhi High Court held them guilty of defamation and directed them to pay Rs 2 crore in damages, Tehelka’s former editor Tarun Tejpal and journalist Aniruddha Bahal have told the court that they will tender an “unconditional apology”, Bar and Bench reported.
The case was filed in 2002 after a report in Tehelka accused the complainant, retired Major General MS Ahluwalia, of corruption in import deals of defence equipment in 2001. The high court bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna in July 2023 had held Tejpal, Bahal, and journalist Mathew Samuel guilty. However, the journalists’ counsel moved an appeal against the order, arguing that they did not have the means to pay such a huge amount in damages.
