TCS Nashik case: No shield from arrest for woman staffer

NASHIK: A court in Nashik on Monday denied interim relief to woman employee accused in a sexual harassment and religious coercion case linked to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), as legal proceedings in the matter continue.The woman, who is currently absconding, had sought interim protection from arrest pending the hearing of her anticipatory bail plea. However, the Nashik Road Sessions Court declined to grant relief at this stage.The complainant’s lawyer requested additional time to file a written response, which the court allowed. The matter will now be heard on April 27, when both the anticipatory bail plea and the interim relief application are scheduled to be taken up.During the hearing, the accused’s counsel, Rahul Kasliwal, argued before the court, “casual talk on religion does not amount to hurting religious sentiments.”Her lawyer, Baba Sayyed, had earlier said, “We have applied for the anticipatory bail plea of our client in the court of Nashik Road Sessions Judge Kedar Joshi, and the court will hear our plea on Monday.”Explaining the grounds cited in the plea, Sayyed said, “One of the grounds is that she is not the main accused. Secondly, the punishment is up to three years in the case pertaining to hurting religious sentiments filed against my client. Hence, we have sought her pre-arrest bail.”In a statement issued on Friday, TCS clarified that the employee had been incorrectly described in some reports as an HR manager. “She served as a process associate and held no leadership responsibilities,” the company said, adding that she was not involved in recruitment.The company also rejected claims that its Nashik unit had been shut down, calling such reports “entirely untrue.”“TCS holds itself to the highest standards of employee welfare and institutional conduct. We remain fully committed to the safety, dignity, and wellbeing of every employee. As we have stated before, we have a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of coercion or misconduct,” the company said.It added that it would continue to support employees and cooperate fully with law enforcement agencies to ensure the matter is investigated “thoroughly, transparently, and brought to a rightful conclusion.”Earlier, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons, described the allegations as “gravely concerning and anguishing,” and said the matter was being treated with “the utmost seriousness.”TCS also said it had not received any complaints through its internal mechanisms. “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 (prevention of sexual harassment) channels,” the company said.The firm further announced the formation of an oversight panel and said it had engaged external agencies to support its internal inquiry, including consultancy firm Deloitte and law firm Trilegal as independent counsel.