In 1980s he began his career with The Indian Express and later 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 became the founding editor of India’s second largest newsmagazine publication, Outlook. Meanwhile, he founded a publishing company, “India Ink”, which published Arundhati Roy’s Booker Prize winning novel The God of Small Things in 1998.
In February 2000, Tarun Tejpal set up India’s first journalistic website, Tehelka. Tejpal in several media interviews declared the primary impulse of Tehelka would be editorial and not commercial, and it would aim to bring back the aggressive public interest journalism of the 1980s which had been misplaced in the fashion, food and cinema excitements of the 1990s. “Tehelka.com” did its first sting operation on India-South Africa cricket match fixing in 2000.
A book about the exposé, Fallen Heroes, was published soon after. The Tehelka portal soon came to be known for its sting investigations, mainly for Operation West End (defence deal bribes).
In 2004, “Tehelka.com” made a switch from online portal to print media when it was relaunched as Tehelka national weekly newspaper in tabloid format, which became a weekly magazine in January 2007.
Tehelka’s landmark stories include the Gujarat killings, Dr Binayak Sen, police encounters in the north-east, coal and 2G scams, the Ishrat Jahan and Tulsi Prajapati murders, the organising of riots by rump groups, an exposé on Zaheera Sheikh (witness of the Best Bakery case); as well as its persuasive reportage on the oppressed and disadvantaged sections of India – Dalits, tribals, poor and other minorities, victims of buccaneering development. Tehelka’s reporters and writers won every journalistic award – including three years of the Chameli Devi for the best national woman journalist of the year and two IPI (International Press Institute) awards for the best journalism of the year as well as the Sanskriti Journalism Award and South Asia Laadli Media & Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity.
A sessions court in Goa on Friday (21 May 2021) acquitted journalist Tarun Tejpal of sexually assaulting a former female colleague.
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Wiki/Biography
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. A trial court acquitted him of all charges.
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| Real Name | Tarun J Tejpal |
| Nickname | Tarun |
| Profession(s) | Journalist, Writer, Entrepreneur |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Date of Birth | March 1963 |
| Age (as in 2021) | 58 Years |
| Birth Place | Jalandhar, Punjab, India |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Home Town | Jalandhar, Punjab, India |
| School | Not Known |
| College | DAV College, Chandigarh Panjab University, Chandigarh< |
| Educational Qualifications | Graduate in Economics |
| Hobbies | Reading, writing |
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| Height (Centi.) (approx.) | 180 cm |
| Height (meters) | 1.80 m |
| Height (feet) | 5’ 11” |
| Weight (Kilograms)(approx.) | 75 kg |
| Weight (Pounds) | 165 lbs |
| Hair Color | White |
| Eye’s Color | Dark Brown |
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| Parents | father - Late Inderjit Tejpal (Army Personnel) Mother - Late Shakuntala Tejpal |
| Siblings | Brother: Kunwar Tejpal aka Minty (Writer, Director) Sister: Neena T Sharma |
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| Marital Status | Married |
| Wife | Geetan Batra (m.1985-present) |
| Children | Son- None Daughters- Cara Tejpal  Tiya Tejpal  |
| There was controversy with allegations of conflict of interest related to the ownership of company that owned "Tehelka" as political and business houses held shares in the company. K. D. Singh, a Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member, owned a part of the holding company, so did "Anant Media Private Limited" which was majority owned by "Alchemist group" conglomerate under investigation by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office. In November 2013, Tejpal was accused by a reporter of sexual assault during Think in Goa. He admitted "misconduct", and offered to take six months leave, as "penance", from Tehelka. The case is still in process. 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, including in a special issue on the topic in February of the year. Police in the state of Goa, where the incident took place, filed a First Information Report (FIR) which listed charges, including rape, against him. A non-bailable warrant was issued against him by the Goa Police. Consequently, he was arrested by Goa police on 30 November 2013. On 1 July 2014, Supreme Court granted him bail and asked him to submit his passport to the court. The trial began in September 2017, and has been lengthened by Tejpal's appeal to the Supreme Court that the charges be quashed. The court rejected his plea in August 2019, sent the trial back to the lower court, which it directed to complete in six months.The Goa sessions court deferred the judgement to May 19, 2021. On 21 May 2021, he was acquitted of all charges. |
Tarun Tejpal : Lesser known facts
- Does Tarun Tejpal smoke?: No
- Does Tarun Tejpal drink alcohol?: Yes
- Tejpal was born into a modest Punjabi family with an army background.
- He met his wife during his college days in Chandigarh.
- In the early 1980s, he started his career by joining ‘The Indian Express.’
- He joined a magazine called ‘India 2000’ after getting relocated to New Delhi.
- he joined ‘India Today’ magazine, and due to his popularity over there he gained the name “the Che Guevara of Indian journalism.”in 1984.
- He left ‘India Today’ and joined ‘The Financial Express.’ The same year, he joined their rival publication, ‘Outlook’, where he worked for many years as managing editor, but got sacked for non-performance in 1994.
- He founded a publishing company called ‘India Ink’ in 1998.
- He started working on investigative stories with his long time colleague, Aniruddha Bahal. After exposing betting in cricket, they decided to start an online site to continue their work in 2000,.
- He founded ‘tehelka.com’, an online independent news and views magazine known for doing ‘sting operations’ in march 2000, after the emergence of the internet.
- He was offered a ticket before elections, but he refused because of his disinterest in the politics in 2004.
- Based on his experiences, he wrote his second novel, ‘The Story of My Assassins’ (2009).
- Tarun website was relaunched as ‘Tehelka’ a weekly magazine in 2007 .
- The popular magazine ‘Business Weekly’ listed him amongst, “India’s 50 Most Powerful People 2009.”
- A sessions court in Goa on Friday (21 May 2021) acquitted journalist Tarun Tejpal of sexually assaulting a former female colleague.
