Vikas Bahl is in
a mess. After Phantom’s dissolution and being embroiled in sexual harassment
controversies, the filmmaker has taken legal course to deal with his issues.
However, in a recent development a few days back, the Phantom employee who has
accused him of sexual misconduct, told the court and media that she doesn’t
intend to take the fight to the court and wants to be left alone. But this has
not gone down too well with the filmmaker who wants to prove his innocence in
the court of law.
According to a
report in The Quint, the victim had on October 19 submitted to the Bombay Hight
Court that she does not want to file a complaint against Vikas Bahl. Responding
to this, Bahl's lawyer said , “It is not that easy to walk away
from things. She is thinking only about her life, she isn’t thinking that my
image will be maligned. Now, the plaintiff (Bahl) is in a position where it
would be impossible to establish that the claims were malicious. It is not
enough for the victim to make these assertions to the defendants (Kashyap and
Motwane), the press and then be asked to left alone.”
Vikas Bahl
These statements were made at a hearing (held yesterday) of the Rs 10 crore defamation suit that Vikas Bahl had filed in Bombay High Court against Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane. In the defamation suit, Bahl has accused Kashyap, Motwane and various media houses maligning his image. According to the report, Kashyap and Motwane, have supported the allegations made by the alleged victim (Phantom employee) against Bahl.
Arguing that the
woman is not ready to take the case to a logical end, Bahl's counsel added that
her version cannot be believed without cross-examination. The lawyer also
slammed Anurag Kashyap for not speaking up all this while, which indicates that
Motwane and Kashyap’s intensions are just to settle scores with Bahl.
Phantom Group
As a reply to
Bahl's counsel, Kashyap and Motwane's lawyers said, "No amount of nitpicking
is going to change what happened on the night of 4th and 5th (4 and 5 May 2015,
when the alleged sexual harassment incident is said to have taken place). Is
this the sort of sensitivity that should be shown in cases like these? At least
three actors have come out publicly and said this man has a tendency to
misbehave."
Kashyap and
Motwane's lawyers claimed that when Kashyap confronted Vikas Bahl, he confessed
to making sexual advances towards the victim against her wish and broke down.
“Bahl is not afraid of the victim. He is more afraid of more women coming
forward. He is afraid of skeletons being buried in his cupboard.” Kashyap and
Motwane’s lawyers said.The next hearing
in the case will be on Thursday October 25.
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