New Delhi: An Additional Sessions Court in Nashik Monday granted bail to three of four accused in the sexual harassment case filed by an employee of the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).
Holding that conclusion of trial is likely to take time, the court granted bail to Sajid Shahu Shaikh, Tausif Attar and Nida Ejaz Khan, observing that “bail cannot be withheld as a measure of punishment”. At the same time, Additional Sessions Judge K.G. Joshi denied bail to prime accused Danish Shaikh after taking note of the seriousness of allegations against him and the apprehension that he might influence witnesses in the case.
A sexual harassment complaint at TCS Nashik in March was followed by nine additional complaints, including those alleging sexual harassment, hurting religious sentiments, and attempts at religious conversion.
Nashik Police subsequently formed an SIT to investigate the complaints, while TCS launched an internal probe despite initially claiming it had received no formal complaints.
Of the nine accused, seven are men, while two—Nida Khan, a project associate at TCS, as per the suspension letter sent by the company to her—and Ashwini Chainani, the head of HR operations, are women. Chainani is alleged to have ignored complaints about the behaviour of the accused persons, backing them instead.
How TCS Nashik case came to light
The initial case was filed by a 23-year-old woman employee of the Nashik branch of TCS. In her complaint, she named three colleagues, accusing one of them, Danish Shaikh, of having sexual intercourse with her on the pretext of marriage.
According to her complaint, the woman met Shaikh for the first time in January 2022, when she was 19. They were in the same college, and became friends. Six months down the line, Shaikh allegedly took her to a local hillock, where he kissed her, and asked her to marry him but she didn’t immediately give an answer. A year later, in 2023, after she completed her BSc (IT), Shaikh, by then with TCS, encouraged her to apply at the company.
Cut to 26 March this year, the woman filed an FIR against Shaikh and two other employees she had befriended through him—Tausif Attar and Nida Khan—accusing them of sexual harassment and hurting religious sentiments.
It was this FIR that prompted a series of similar complaints from TCS Nashik—nine to be precise—allegedly involving nine, seven of whom figure in multiple complaints.
The initial case was registered at Deolali Camp police station. “While detailed reviews are still underway, a preliminary review of the systems and records pertaining to the Nashik unit indicates that we have not received any complaints of the nature that are being alleged, on either our ethics or POSH channels,” TCS said in a statement in April.
Bail denied to main accused Danish
The complainant has alleged that Danish had sexual intercourse with her under the pretext of marriage and Tausif molested her by repeatedly demanding sexual favors, threatening to disclose to her family that she had engaged in physical relations with Danish.
The complaint further alleges that Nida, along with both co-accused, attempted to coerce her into religious conversion by instilling fear in her and repeatedly offending her religious sentiments.
During the hearing Monday, Danish’s counsel submitted that he has been “falsely implicated”.
He further contended that the probe is substantially over, a charge-sheet has already been filed and Danish has remained in custody for a considerable period. “It is further submitted that no useful purpose would be served by keeping the applicant behind bars for an indefinite period. The applicant is a permanent resident of the local area and is ready to abide by any conditions imposed by the Court.”
The lawyer appearing for the complainant opposed the bail application and submitted that the offence “is of a serious nature and is exclusively triable by the Court of Sessions”.
“It is submitted that there is prima-facie material connecting the applicant with the crime. According to the prosecution, release of the applicant on bail would create a possibility of influencing witnesses and adversely affecting the trial. Considering the nature of punishment, possibility of tampering evidence, fleeing away from justice, threatening the witnesses can not be ruled out and, therefore, the application deserves rejection,” said the lawyer appearing for the complainant.
After analysing the arguments, K.G. Joshi, Additional Sessions Special Judge, Nashik-road, said, “Having regard to the seriousness of the allegations, the manner in which the offence is alleged to have been committed, emotional effect on victim and influence flashed by the accused and the prima-facie material available on record, this Court is of the opinion that no case is made out for exercising discretionary jurisdiction in favour of the applicant.”
Further, the court said that there is also substance in the apprehension expressed by the “prosecution regarding possible influence on material witnesses if the applicant is released on bail at this stage.”
Considering the nature of punishment, possibility of tampering evidence, fleeing away from justice, threatening witnesses, emotionally black-mailing, cannot be ruled out, court said.
“In view of the aforesaid circumstances, this Court does not find any justifiable ground to enlarge the applicant on regular bail. Considering the overall circumstances, and the trauma on the victim and the nature of the alleged crime, he does not deserve to be enlarged on bail until evidence of material witnesses, is recorded, in the trial,” said the court, while rejecting the application.
Nida, Tausif, Sajid secure bail
On its part, the court while granting bail to the other three accused, said there “is no material placed on record to indicate that the applicant would attempt to abscond or tamper the evidence”.
“Appropriate conditions can adequately safeguard the interest of the prosecution. The object of bail is to secure the attendance of the accused at trial. Bail cannot be withheld as a measure of punishment before conviction. The settled principle is that deprivation of liberty before conviction must be justified by compelling circumstances,” it said.
Adding, “Nothing is to be recovered or discovered from the present applicant. The prosecution has not claimed custody of the applicants for further investigation nor for any other reason. Trial will take its own time. No purpose will be served by keeping the applicants behind the bars. Considering the overall circumstances and the allegations in FIR and the nature of the alleged crime, the application deserves to be allowed.”
Lawyer Baba Sayyad, representing both Khan and Attar, told ThePrint, “The two have also been granted bail. One of the grounds the bail was sought for Khan was due to her pregnancy, the chargesheet has also been filed. They are permanent residents of Nashik.”
Sayyad also said that he had submitted in court that the allegations against Khan, as stated in the chargesheet, “weren’t serious”.
“The allegations pertain to hurting religious sentiments, and for these offences, the punishment is for not more than five years,” he argued.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)