A Nashik court on Tuesday granted bail to Ashwini Chainani (52), operations manager of the TCS-linked BPO in Nashik, who was arrested in connection with the alleged workplace sexual harassment and religious coercion case.
Chainani is the second accused to secure bail. On July 6, a Nashik court granted bail to co-accused Nida Khan, who was subsequently released from jail. The remaining six male accused remain in judicial custody, with multiple criminal cases registered against them.
Additional Sessions Judge A.V. Kharkar directed Chainani to furnish a personal bond of ₹50,000 along with one surety bond, said her defence lawyers, Mayur Deshpande and Vijay Deshpande.
“The court has also directed our client not to threaten prosecution witnesses or tamper with evidence,” the defence lawyers said.
The court heard the defence arguments on Monday and the prosecution’s submissions on Tuesday before passing the order.
Arguing for bail, advocate Deshpande told the court that the complainant had never submitted a written complaint to Chainani regarding the alleged sexual harassment or religious coercion.
“Chainani had no role in abetting the alleged offences as she operated from Pune. The complainant had raised the issue with two other senior officials posted at the Nashik BPO, but while our client was arrested, no action was taken against them,” Deshpande said.
{{/usCountry}}“Chainani had no role in abetting the alleged offences as she operated from Pune. The complainant had raised the issue with two other senior officials posted at the Nashik BPO, but while our client was arrested, no action was taken against them,” Deshpande said.
{{/usCountry}}Public prosecutor Vijay Gaikwad opposed the bail plea, contending that Chainani bore responsibility for failing to address the complainant’s grievances.
“Had Chainani not ignored the issues raised by the complainant, the entire matter could have been addressed at the workplace,” Gaikwad argued, adding that she was a member of the Internal Complaints Committee constituted under the POSH Act at the Nashik unit.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Nashik City Police arrested Chainani on April 10. An FIR was registered against her at Mumbai Naka police station on April 2 under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including insulting the modesty of a woman and abetment of an offence.
Police arrested eight employees of the BPO, including Chainani, in the case.