India’s Supreme Court has granted bail to Tarun Tejpal, the former editor of a news magazine who is charged with raping a female colleague.
Tejpal, former editor of Tehelka, was arrested and imprisoned on 30 November.
He is also charged with “sexual harassment” and “outraging the modesty of a woman”. He denies the charges.
His unnamed accuser has alleged that he assaulted her at an event organised by Tehelka in Goa in November last year.
In February, prosecutors filed charges, running to nearly 2,700 pages, in a court in Goa.
Legal experts say if found guilty, Tejpal could be sentenced to at least seven years in jail.
The Goa court had repeatedly denied him bail, but in May, the Supreme Court allowed him interim bail after his mother died.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court said Tejpal could remain on bail on the condition that he would “not tamper with evidence or attempt to influence witnesses” and that he would remain present in court during the trial.
The Supreme Court also ordered the trial court to complete the trial quickly, preferably within eight months from now.
After Tejpal was accused of rape, critics accused Tehelka magazine – one of India’s top investigative titles, which has exposed gender inequality and officially-sanctioned misogyny – of hypocrisy and double standards.
The case has particular resonance because it comes amid a debate about attitudes to sexual violence in India after the brutal gang rape and murder of a woman in Delhi in December 2012.
