NEW DELHI: It began as a grainy video in March 2001. Bangaru Laxman, BJP president in a yellow sweater, smiled and took Rs 1 lakh and put it in a drawer. Crusading journalism, which could shake the government of the day, streamed out of India's boxy television sets. It was minimally equipped: tiny hidden cameras and microphones. But the claims were magnificent: it was for the people, it was meant to cleanse the system at all costs. Brand Tehelka was born. At the forefront was its very suave face: a 39-year-old called Tarun Tejpal.He said in an interview in the afterglow of Laxman's resignation: "A few more stories like this in a year, and this country can be cleaned up."The self-anointed cleanser of the system now has mud on his face. Tejpal, the editor-in-chief, has been accused of sexually assaulting a junior colleague at Tehelka's highbrow powwow in Goa, Think Fest.Tejpal the novelist - he has written The Alchemy of Desire that was generously blurbed by friends and The Story of My Assassins - is ripped apart in the mainstream and social media for the kind of language he used in an email in which he responded to the allegation, for recusing himself from his position as though he could choose his penalty. Historian and commentator Patrick French said Tehelka hasn't dealt with the complaint adequately. "They set high standards for others, they should live by those standards"; he said.Ashok Malik, a contributing editor to Tehelka, said, "I don't understand what a six-month recuse will achieve. If Tarun is not guilty, then why the recuse? If he is guilty then there should be a process, both internal and under the law. It is not for the assailant or for the person who was attacked to decide on a punishment. He has the right to defend himself, but I can't understand how he can give himself a punishment." Now Tehelka has constituted an internal complaints committee headed by publisher Urvashi Butalia. But a Delhi-based feminist asks: "Urvashi and Tarun are best friends, so how can there be an impartial inquiry? There is a clear conflict of interest."An editor who worked with Tejpal in India Today - where he joined as a subeditor in 1988 and later became the books editor - says: "Tehelka is Tarun: he is that closely associated with the magazine. Whatever happens to Tarun's image affects Tehelka." About young Tejpal, he has only glowing words: "He was, I think, four-five years into journalism when he joined India Today. He was a bright guy and a fabulous writer. We were close professionally. He was courting Geetan Batra at that time and they married soon after. That's the image I have of him - and it is so different from what is portrayed today. If this allegation proves true, then it goes against everything Tejpal and Tehelka claim to have stood for. It will be the heights of hypocrisy."Madhu Trehan, senior journalist, author of the book Tehelka as Metaphor and founder of Newslaundry.com, says: "If you are going to be an activist journalist, it should be reflected in your life as well. It can't just be a ritual. There are public service professions like medicine, law, journalism where there are some ethics and rules. Journalists are criticising people all the time on these issues. We have to apply the same rules to ourselves. We have to be above board and transparent. This is not good for journalism." On how Tehelka has handled the situation Trehan says: "In that way, Asaram could have also handled it internally and given himself a punishment."In 1993, Tejpal left India Today and soon joined the newest magazine on the block: Outlook. In 1997, he published a young author's first novel: Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things, which went on to win the Booker. In 2000, he and a bunch of brash young journalists began Tehelka.com, scoffing at most of the tenets of mainstream media. Whatever he touched seemed to turn into gold.One of those journalists recalls: "Tehelka of 2000 was the best workplace a rookie journalist could hope for. There was this buzz in the air, and Tarun treated you like an equal. He was inspiring and you gave your best." Things began to change soon after Operation Westend. Tehelka's first backers like stock market guru Shankar Sharma and Devina Sharma, promoters of the brokerage firm First Global, were raided. Advertisers backed away. "The website became an overnight hit but the financiers were hounded by the official machinery. We stopped getting our salaries," says the former employee. Shankar Sharma refused to comment for this story.Tehelka changed its avatars. In 2004, Tehelka, The People's Paper was launched. For funds, it turned to readers, inviting founder-subscriptions of 1 lakh each. Then in 2007, Tehelka became a news magazine. (For details of Tehelka magazine's ownership structure, see accompanying story).Amit Sengupta, who was with Tehelka weekly when it launched, and is now associate professor at IIMC, says: "When Tarun talks about his blood, sweat and tears in his email, he whitewashes the extraordinary effort put in by a talented group of journalists who launched the weekly paper on low salaries, and turned it into a public interest weekly of authentic journalism." Tejpal's former boss at Outlook, Vinod Mehta, told TV channels that Tejpal's case is an example of a fall in moral standards. Tejpal's earlier crusader-in-arms Aniruddha Bahal declined to comment.Meanwhile, Tejpal is bracing for a fight. He claims he did not assault his colleague and that it was "consensual". He has also got some of the best legal brains like Raian Karanjawala.Tehelka's mascot is a crow: jhooth bole kauwa kaate. In the next few days of claims and counterclaims, the crow will have a lot to ponder on.