Kizie Aur Manny Director Mukesh Chhabra's 'Illegal Suspension' Should Be Revoked: FWICE Sends Letter To STAR India
Bollywood’s casting director Mukesh Chhabra was accused of sexual harassment by a few anonymous accounts, following which he was suspended as the director of Sushant Singh Rajput and Sanjana Sanghi’s film Kizie Aur Manny
A few weeks
back, Bollywood’s casting director Mukesh Chhabra was suspended as the director
of Sushant Singh Rajput and Sanjana Sanghi’s film Kizie Aur Manny following
anonymous sexual harassment complaints, on October 19. After being accused of
sexual harassment, Fox Star Hindi announced the news of his suspension on
social media and wrote, “As a responsible organisation, Star India takes any
allegation of sexual harassment of women at workplace very seriously. Hence,
Fox Star Studios has suspended the services of Mukesh Chhabra, director of our
film Kizie Aur Manny, which is under production, till the Internal Complaints
Committee (ICC) of M/s Mukesh Chhabra Casting Company concludes its inquiry
into the allegations against him."
Now,
according to a latest report in Bombay Times, The Federation of Western India
Cine Employees (FWICE) has written a letter addressing the Managing Director of
Star India, requesting that director Mukesh Chhabra’s ‘arbitrary and illegal
suspension’ be revoked immediately. The letter states:
“It is gratifying to know that Star
India is committed to an anti-sexual harassment policy and, has recently
conducted an inquiry to investigate allegations of sexual harassment and abuse
against its CEO, in the light of a recent anonymous complaint. From this, it
appears, that the company is well aware that the Sexual Harassment of Women at
Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal) Act, 2013, (POSH), has well
defined procedures for registering and investigating a sexual harassment
complaint. The POSH inquiry procedure is based on the principle of natural
justice which requires that both the victim and the alleged harasser shall be
provided an opportunity to be heard, before any disciplinary action is taken.
Disciplinary action may be taken only after the POSH enquiry has been
completed, both sides have been duly heard, witness statements recorded and a
copy of the findings shared with both the victim and the alleged harasser. It
is pertinent to note, that, the POSH Act recognises the possibility of false
complaints being filed and mandates equal disciplinary action against false
complainants, so that the innocent are not wrongly defamed or charged. However,
it has come to our notice, that, in violation of the POSH enquiry procedure and
the principle of natural justice as laid down under the POSH Act, a notice has
been served on our affiliate, IFTDA’s member, director Mukesh Chhabra,
arbitrarily suspending his services as director of the film ‘Kizie Aur Manny’,
based on hearsay and anonymous complaints. This is a blatant violation of the
enquiry and investigation procedure laid down in the POSH Act.”
Ashoke
Pandit, chief advisor to the FWICE told BT, “We want all these cases of sexual
harassment to have a firm standing in the court of law. We are all for action
against the real culprits but we also want a thorough and evidence-led enquiry
into every case of sexual harassment at workplace that emanates from our
industry. We want to be very sure so the matter gets a fair trial if it were to
reach the court. As a federation, we want to clean this entire process of
filmmaking for men and women who have faced harassment. For that, complainants
have come to us, like they did in the case of Sajid Khan and Alok Nath. We are
following up the cases on our end and we are doing so by following the legal
system in place. At the same time, we don’t want anyone to face humiliation or
any trouble on the basis of a mere anonymous complaint. In the case of the
on-going #MeToo movement, I insist that there should not be penalty before a
fair and square enquiry. Powerful organisations — be it a studio, a production
house or any other — cannot be doling out ‘justice’ before one is proven
guilty. In my personal capacity and in the capacity of the offices that I hold,
I am with the person who has been wronged. But without evidence, if members of
our crafts are being socially harmed, their reputation is being tarnished
without any proven ground, it’s not fair. It takes people years to build a reputation
in the industry and with one ouster, one case of being publicly shamed, that
person, even without being proven guilty, will suffer for the rest of his life.
They will be denied their basic right to earn a living.”