Tarun Tejpal, 50, has been behind bars since November last year.
, the 50-year-old founder of Tehelka news magazine, cannot leave the Goa jail where he has been imprisoned since late November. He was refused bail this afternoon by a court in Goa.
Mr Tejpal is accused of raping a younger woman colleague at a Tehelka conference in Goa in November. He has denied the charges and described the police case and investigation against him as payback by the BJP's government in Goa for earlier Tehelka investigations against its senior leaders.
Mr Tejpal had been granted permission today to leave jail to meet his unwell mother at a Goa hospital. However, his family says that he will have to put in a fresh request for the meeting since his mother has been moved from hospital to a house Mr Tejpal owns in Goa.
Last month, Mr Tejpal was charged with a series of offences including sexual harassment, outraging modesty and rape, in one of the highest-profile cases since India toughened its rape laws last year.
"The truth is in the CCTV footage and it will be known to the world," Mr Tejpal said at that time.
The woman, who has quit the magazine since the scandal broke, has told the police she was molested twice in the lift during a magazine-sponsored event in the state.
Tehelka has reported forcefully on gender inequality in India recently, highlighting police and judicial insensitivity to rape victims as well as the misogynistic attitudes of many Indian men.
It has been accused of hypocrisy and trying to cover up a serious crime after magazine staff were sent an email in November when the allegations were first made, saying Mr Tejpal was stepping down for six months for "misconduct".
Police say their investigation gathered CCTV footage showing the pair entering the elevator -- although there was no camera inside it -- and other evidence including email and SMS exchanges between them.