Richa Chadha initiates legal action after her name dragged in #MeToo case against Anurag Kashyap
Mumbai: Actor Richa Chadha on Monday said she has initiated "appropriate" legal action after her name was dragged in a "defamatory" manner by actor Payal Ghosh, who has accused filmmaker Anurag Kashyap of sexual harassment.
On Saturday, Ghosh took to Twitter, claiming that the "Gangs of Wasseypur" director was sexually inappropriate towards her, an allegation Kashyap called "baseless".
In a video released to ABN Telugu, Ghosh claimed that the incident happened in 2014-2015.
The actor, who made her Hindi debut with Rishi Kapoor-Paresh Rawal starrer "Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi", also claimed that Kashyap boasted about his connection with megastar Amitabh Bachchan and claimed that there were other female artistes who he got intimate with, including Chadha.
Chadha took to Twitter to share her lawyer Saveena Bedi Sachar's statement.
"Our Client has initiated appropriate legal action and shall further pursue her legal rights and remedies in law as may be advised in her best interest."
The statement further read that the "Fukrey" star condemns her name being "unnecessarily and falsely dragged in a defamatory manner" into controversies and allegations raised by "third parties."
"Though our client believes that genuinely wronged women should get justice at all costs, there are legislations that are intended to ensure that women have an equal standing in their workplace and to ensure that they have a cordial workplace in which their dignity and self-respect is protected.
"No woman can be allowed to misuse their liberties to harass other women with unsubstantiated or non-existent, false and baseless allegations."
When a Twitter user criticized the actor for speaking against casting couch in the past and now siding with Kashyap, Chadha called her out for being agenda driven.
Attempt to rape is a serious allegation. She should have gone to the cops. You think feminism is women dragging your name in an obscene, unnecessary way in their personal battles? So I can make cheap allegations about you on TV? Your agenda has blinded you towards truth. Shame, the actor wrote in reply.
Kashyap, too, shared a statement from his lawyer, Priyanka Khimani, that said the 48-year-old director has been "fully advised of his rights and remedies in law and intends to pursue them to the fullest extent."
Dismissing the allegations on Sunday, Kashyap called Ghosh's claim an attempt to "silence" him for his outspoken views.
The director found support in his industry friends, including Hansal Mehta, Taapse Pannu, Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub as well as former wives, film editor Aarti Bajaj and actor Kalki Koechlin who credited him for creating safe work space for women.
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Indigo flights chaos: SCR to run special trains to clear passenger rush
Hyderabad (PTI): The South Central Railway on Saturday announced that it would run four special trains to manage the surge in passengers resulting from the large-scale cancellation of IndiGo flights here.
The move comes as flyers face significant disruption and long queues at the airport due to the cancellation.
A press release from the SCR said it is running the special trains to clear the extra rush of passengers to Chennai, Mumbai and Shalimar (Kolkata) from Hyderabad today.
Meanwhile, as many as 43 outbound Indigo flights were cancelled from here on Saturday, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport sources said.
ALSO READ: IndiGo cancels over 200 flights from Delhi, Mumbai on Saturday
Similarly, 26 incoming flights are also likely to be cancelled during the day, they said.
The flight cancellations drew ire from passengers, who thronged the IndiGo counters at the airport demanding to know the exact situation.
“This is utter nonsense! Digiyatra done, message received that departure has been rescheduled ahead of the scheduled departure and now upon arriving at Hyderabad airport coming to know at the security checkpoint that Indigo flight is cancelled,” Tarun Singha, former Ministry of Defence spokesperson said in a post on X.
“But the thing is if you don’t shout they do nothing. Example at Hyderabad Airport, there was no staff no flight information for an hour. Then a fellow passenger started shouting on mic and an Indigo staff appeared finally,” a netizen said in a post.
On Friday, when IndiGo cancelled over 1,000 flights from across airports, its CEO Pieter Elbers apologised in a video message for the major inconvenience caused to passengers due to the disruptions.
In the one-way video communication, Elbers also said that the airline was expecting fewer than 1,000 flights on Saturday.
