The bench, headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu, had taken exception to the counsel for Goa objecting to the court Registry not informing the parties while scheduling the hearing.

TOI on Friday erroneously reported that that court was unhappy with the lawyer of the journalist. Tejpal’s lawyer did not appear before the bench when it took up the matter. The error is regretted.

The bench dismissed the objections raised by the counsel for Goa government after going through documents which showed that the hearing had been scheduled because the Additional Sessions Judge of Goa, who is trying Tejpal, had sought more time to complete the trial.

An annoyed bench told counsel for Goa government that he had made wrong accusations against the court. The court also told the Goa counsel that he should respect institutions, leading him to offer apology for raising objections.

The bench granted one year’s time to the Goa court to conclude the trial.

A bench of Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justice Arun Mishra, after going through an office report sent by additional sessions judge of Goa, slammed Tejpal for making accusations against the court.

“You are making accusations against the court. We feel strongly about it. You should respect the institution,” the bench said.

Unaware about the contents of the report, Tejpal’s counsel, however, apologized to the court.

“Apology is not a magic word for everything. You should not have made allegations. It’s not right,” the bench said. The court granted one-year time to the trial court to complete the proceedings against Tejpal.

Tejpal was arrested on November 30, 2013 for sexually assaulting a female colleague at a Goa hotel. He was granted interim bail on May 19 last year to attend the cremation of his mother. He was granted regular bail on July 2 last year.

He has been chargesheeted for raping, sexually harassing and outraging the modesty of a junior colleague during an event at a Goa hotel.