Salman Khurshid holds brief for tainted Tarun Tejpal

Former Union minister Salman Khurshid on Monday appeared before the Supreme Court on behalf of former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal, facing trial in a rape case, seeking extension of his bail, which expires on June 9.

A practicing Supreme Court lawyer Khurshid was one of those high profile ministers in the Congress led UPA government. Other senior top court lawyers who were the ministers in the UPA regime are Kapil Sibbal, P Chidambaram , Ashwini Kumar etc. Soon, they are likely to be seen appearing in courts.

Appearing for Tejpal before the vacation bench of justices JS Khehar and C Nagappan, Khurshid, who was also the Union law minister in the UPA government, said his client although was granted bail, was not able to attend his mother's funeral and other rituals were to be performed by him and the court should grant him more time. The court agreed to hear the plea on Tuesday.

On May 19, the apex court had granted him bail for three weeks to perform last rites of mother, who died in Goa last month. Since November 30 last year, Tejpal was lodged at Sada sub-jail in Goa's Vasco town.

In his plea filed through advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey, Tejpal said his father is 82-year-old and his medical condition is also not good to perform some rituals. Tejpal's mother Shakuntala, 87, was suffering from brain tumour and was living in Tejpal's house at Moira in North Goa.

Tejpal, 50, has been chargesheeted for allegedly raping, sexually harassing and outraging the modesty of a junior colleague during an event held at a hotel in Goa in November last year.