A Nashik sessions court has granted bail to AIMIM corporator Mateen Majeed Shaikh alias Mateen Patel, who was booked in connection with the sexual harassment case involving employees of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in Nashik.
Additional Sessions Judge Kedar Rajaram Joglekar granted Shaikh bail after noting that the investigating agency had never considered his arrest necessary during the investigation.
Shaikh’s alleged role in the case was limited to accusations that he provided shelter to co-accused Nida Khan, who was reportedly avoiding arrest. The court noted that this was the only offence invoked against him under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The court drew a distinction between Shaikh and the other accused, observing that the police had not sought his custodial interrogation. Instead, he had been released during the investigation after being served a notice under Section 35(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), following which the police filed their chargesheet.
Despite this, Shaikh was taken into judicial custody on August 7 after a non-bailable warrant was executed against him. The warrant had been issued after he failed to appear before the court despite having been served notice following the filing of the chargesheet.
The court found that Shaikh’s detention was therefore not the result of a requirement for custodial interrogation, but stemmed from his failure to attend the proceedings.
The underlying FIR was registered against eight TCS employees at the company’s Nashik office. The allegations include sexual harassment, hurting religious sentiments and offences under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The accused were also alleged to have conspired to influence the complainant to convert and to have hurt her religious sentiments.
In granting relief, the court held that there was no sufficient basis to keep Shaikh in custody alongside the other accused, given the distinct allegations against him and the fact that police had not sought his arrest during the investigation.
Shaikh has been ordered to be released on a personal bond of ₹75,000, with one or two sureties of the same amount.
