Court allows Tarun Tejpal to meet his ailing mother

, March 14: A court here on Friday granted Tehelka editor-in-chief

permission to meet his ailing mother.

The north Goa district and sessions court heard the 50-year-old journalist's plea in which he said his mother, Shakuntala, has been admitted to a hospital in Mapusa town, 15 km from here, and was suffering from a terminal disease.

Tejpal's bail hearing will come up later in the day. The former editor is expected to write to the jailor of Sada sub-jail, where he is an inmate, for formal permission to visit his ailing mother.

Tejpal has already spent over three months in police and judicial custody since his arrest on Nov 30.

A junior colleague had accused Tejpal of rape during ThinkFest, a high-profile conference organised by the Tehelka founder in Goa, which was attended by Hollywood star Robert de Niro.

The victim claimed that she was sexually assaulted twice on Nov 7 and 8.

Tejpal is at present lodged in Sada sub-jail located in Vasco, 35 km from here.

IANS