Tanushree Dutta demands narco, lie detector tests on Patekar
Mumbai, Oct 13: Actor Tanushree Dutta on Saturday demanded that actor Nana Patekar and three others, against whom she has filed a complaint alleging sexual harassment, be subjected to narco analysis, brain mapping and lie detector tests.
Dutta submitted an application in this regard to Oshiwara police station through her advocate Nitin Satpute.
Dutta has accused the 67-year-old actor of misbehaving with her when the two were shooting a special song for Hindi film "Horn Ok Pleassss" 10 years ago.
Based on her complaint, Oshiwara police had registered a case under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code against Patekar, choreographer Ganesh Acharya, producer Samee Siddiqui and director Rakesh Sarang.
Satpute on Saturday said that his client had also sought the arrest of Patekar, Acharya, Siddiqui, Sarang and their "fake witnesses".
Dutta's application mentioned that the accused were "highly influential and high profile" persons with "good political connection" and, therefore, it was possible that they could put "undue pressure, fear, coercion and influence" on the witnesses, Satpute said.
The lawyer claimed that there were eye witnesses to the alleged incident which took place on March 26, 2008 but they were not coming forward to record their statement as they were afraid of the accused.
Satpute claimed that these witnesses would step forward to record their statement only after the accused are arrested.
Dutta believes that the accused, who while speaking to the media have been denying the accusation, may put pressure on witnesses or produce "bogus witnesses" to record "negative statement" against her, the lawyer said.
Dutta has also approached the Maharashtra State Commission for Women as well as the Deputy Collector under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 to get justice, he said.
Patekar, on Saturday, had told reporters here that "I said this ten years ago... a lie is a lie (Dus saal pehle bol chuka hoon, ab jo jhoot hai woh jhoot hai')".
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Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
