Corrupt Police & Legal System: Tanushree on Patekar’s Clean Chit

Dutta had previously refuted claims of the police giving Patekar a clean chit.

Tanushree Dutta had filed a case against Nana Patekar for sexual harassment in October 2018.

(Photo courtesy: Facebook)

The Mumbai police have closed their enquiry against Nana Patekar saying that they have found no credible evidence to substantiate the sexual harassment claims levelled against him by Tanushree Dutta. The actor had filed a police complaint in October last year accusing Patekar of harassing her on the sets of their 2008 film Horn Ok Pleassss. The Deputy Commissioner of Police Paramjit Singh Dahiya told PTI that the Oshiwara police filed a B Summary report before a metropolitan magistrate in Andheri in Mumbai on 12 June.

Dutta’s lawyer Nitin Satpute claims he is yet to receive official communication from the the police but has told Times Now that they will challenge the closure report in court. He also that the police acted "negligently" to protect Patekar. "The police have not done proper investigation, so we are opposing the summary report and are also going to file a writ petition before the Bombay High Court," he said.

Tanushree Dutta has issued a statement calling the development the result of a “corrupt police force and legal system” and questioned the closure of the enquiry saying that all of her witness haven’t yet recorded their statements.

“A corrupt police force and legal system giving a clean chit to an even more corrupt person Nana who has been accused even in the past of bullying, intimidation and harassment by several women in the film industry,” she said. “Our witnesses have been silenced by intimidation, and fake witnesses have been put forth to weaken the case. What was the rush to file a ‘B summary’ report when all of my witnesses have not even recorded their statements yet?” she asked.

"I'm neither shocked nor surprised, being a woman in India this is something we all have got used to. If rape accused Alok Nath got a clean chit and returned to movies, then surely it was not going to be difficult for harassment accused Nana Patekar to get himself, or shall we say buy himself, a clean chit to continue to bully hapless young women," she said.

"...But the proof is often in the pudding and a gentle reminder to the Indian public to watch the video of my car being mercilessly attacked and broken while I and my family tried to escape from these monsters on Horn ok Pleasss set 10 years ago,” Dutta added.

Patekar’s lawyer Aniket Nikam welcomed the move saying, “Truth has the tendency to surface no matter how much one may want to suppress it. My client is innocent and justice will be served.”

In May, Tanushree Dutta had refuted rumours that Patekar had been given a clean chit by the police calling it a “publicity stunt” on behalf of Patekar’s entourage in an attempt to rectify his image since opportunities in Bollywood have dried up in the wake of the accusations. She also claimed that the investigation had been slowed down as several witnesses had been intimidated by people associated with Patekar and that false witnesses have been presented to the police to derail the proceedings.

In October 2018, Dutta outed Nana Patekar for sexual harassment. She offered a detailed account of the incident on the sets of Horn Ok Pleassss in an interview with Zoom TV, saying that Patekar attempted to touch her inappropriately and insisted on shooting an intimate song sequence in the film, though it was not mentioned in her contract. She said that the director Rakesh Sarang, producer Sami Siddiqui and choreographer Ganesh Acharya turned a deaf ear when she voiced her concerns. Patekar has categorically denied all allegations.

(With inputs from PTI)