Women's Commission registers case, to file FIR against Nana Patekar, Vivek Agnihotri in Delhi Crime branch; urges Tanushree Dutta to lodge fresh appeal
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; October 5, 2018)

A day after Nana Patekar and Vivek Agnihotri slapped legal notices on Tanushree Dutta, the National Commission for Women (NCW), Delhi, rushed to her defense. mid-day has learnt that a third party case was registered with the NCW by advocate Gaurav Gulati yesterday.

The complainant urged the women's body to take cognisance of the sexual harassment allegations levelled by Dutta, against Patekar and Agnihotri. He also requested the organisation to register an FIR independently with the Delhi Crime branch on the matter as the "respondent is politically activated and can affect investigation in Maharashtra (sic)".

The accused in the complaint include Patekar, Horn Ok Pleassss (2008) producer Sami Siddiqui, director Rakesh Sarang and choreographer Ganesh Acharya. Agnihotri, who according to Dutta, had asked her to strip behind the camera during the shoot of Chocolate (2005), is also among the accused.

The complaint states, "Tanushree Dutta was harassed on the sets of Horn Ok Pleassss... CINTAA, too, refused to adhere to the laid down guidelines of the laws regarding sexual harassment at workplace (Vishaka & Ors v. State of Rajasthan, 1997). As per the CRPC and Limitation act, there is no bar for registering a case on sexual offences if the victim gives reasonable justification for delay."

When we reached out to NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma, her office confirmed the development, stating, "The complaint was received at 4 pm yesterday. The investigation will begin today. It would be advisable if the victim backs the complaint to expedite the process."

Dutta remained unavailable for comment.