The Maharashtra State Commission for Women on Tuesday issued a notice to actor Nana Patekar, asking him to respond to actress Tanushree Dutta’s allegations of sexual harassment against him, reported ANI.
The commission also issued notices to director Rakesh Sarang and choreographer Ganesh Acharya, who are also named in Dutta’s complaint. Producer Sameer Siddiqui was also named in the complaint.
The women’s commission has asked the police for an update of the investigation and has asked the actress to appear before it to record her statement.
Dutta approached the state women’s commission on Monday. “The complaint has been lodged with the Maharashtra State Commission for Women,” her lawyer Nitin Satpute had said. “Tomorrow [Tuesday] we are going to move the complaint to the District Officer as per the Sexual Harassment Act Section 9.
Commenting on Dutta’s allegations against him, Patekar said on Monday, “The truth that was there 10 years back stands true even today.”
Dutta has accused Patekar of sexually harassing her in 2008 on the sets of the unreleased film Horn ‘Ok’ Pleassss. She also alleged that upon Patekar’s request, men backed by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena attacked her car while she and her father were inside it. Dutta had made the same accusations 10 years ago, and Patekar had denied them.
Last week, Patekar sent a legal notice to Dutta, asking her to apologise for making false claims. She has also received a notice from director Vivek Agnihotri, who allegedly asked her to take her clothes off and dance to give co-star Irrfan Khan his cues while they were shooting for Chocolate.
Producer Sameer Siddiqui denied Dutta’s claims and said no molestation had taken place on the sets of Horn ‘Ok’ Pleassss.
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