#MeToo: When 'Due Process' Failed a Survivor in BJP MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar's Office

Since the #MeToo movement made headlines, there has been a debate on whether due processes are being bypassed by postings on social media or whether the present tide of complaints is actually the outcome of the failure of the 'due process'.

That the 'due process' of filing complaints with the internal complaints committee (ICC) or seniors, or the departmental head concerned have not worked in many cases is evident in cases such as of Sandhya Menon and Nasreen Khan who worked in Times of India.

Also Read: After Sexual Harassment Allegations, Calcutta Times Editor Gets A Transfer But Survivors Say, Not Enough

The latest case that displays the failure of 'due processes' is that of a young woman who worked as a strategic consultant in the office of Rajeev Chandrashekhar, a BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka, and owner of Jupiter Capitals that has investments in Republic TV and Asianet. 

According to a report in The Wire, Sonam Mahajan, a young girl, had in 2017, accused Abhinav Khare, a close aide of Chandrashekhar, of sexual harassment, a charge that was later confirmed after an in-house probe.

However, last week, when the #MeToo storm kicked off on social media, Mahajan took to Twitter and questioned Chandrashekhar's commitment to fighting sexual harassment. In the meantime, she had left her job as she was being placed in the same department in close proximity to her harasser.

Soon enough, Mahajan was handed an ex-parte court order that gagged her from speaking to anyone about her situation, according toThe Wire, which approached her for a comment, but she declined. However, the injunction is available on the court’s website.

The Wire cited lawyers familiar with cases of sexual harassment at the workplace, as terming this as a "textbook illustration of how the process can be stretched out by employers and the accused to a point where the victim is effectively denied any remedy. The fact that she has also been silenced indefinitely, they say,  only adds insult to injury."

Here goes a thread of tweets by Mahajan before the court order, where she questions Chandrashekar's commitment to fighting sexual harassment at the workplace. 

Will you stand by me if I name and shame the man who talks of women safety in his public life and takes no accountability for the sexual harassment, his close aide has subjected me to and has been found guilty? I’m scared cuz he’s way too powerful & vindictive. #MeToo #MeTooIndia

— Sonam Mahajan (@AsYouNotWish) 7 October 2018

This is how Mahajan's case unfolded, according to The Wire.

Mahajan, an MBA graduate with a right-of-centre approach to public policy, joined Chandrasekhar’s office on October 9, 2017 on a one-year contract. Sources in the MP's team said that the understanding was that the contract would be renewed after one year.

Mahajan, who openly favours the idea of a 'Hindu Rashtra', used to work  out of the building of Jupiter Capital Management, and was on the payroll of Chandrashekhar's  Namma Bengaluru Foundation, which was also housed in the same building. She reported to one Abhinav Khare, "a close associate of Chandrasekhar who wears various hats in the MP’s business ventures such as COO of Asianet, one of his media companies," says The Wire .

"A month after joining, on November 16, 2017, Mahajan alleged inappropriate behaviour on the part of Khare and filed a formal complaint of sexual harassment. The complaint, company sources say, was made directly to Chandrasekhar. Though the company initially tried to push for a compromise, it finally set up an ad hoc investigation committee on December 1, in line with the requirements of the Prevention of Sexual Harassment at the Workplace law."

As per rules, an internal probe into sexual harassment allegations is meant to conclude in 90 days. In this case, the committee set up by Chandrashekhar’s office took twice as long, and only delivered its report at the end of June 2018, according to the report, which said its findings "bore out Mahajan’s complaint and recommended a range of punitive measures against Khare."

Now for the cracks appearing in the 'due processes' and its fallout on the survivor. 

According to The Wire, there is no record of the company accepting and acting on the investigation committee’s recommendations, and when towards the end of September, Mahajan repeatedly asked the management why the recommendations had not been acted upon, Khare filed a case in a Bangalore court on October 1 praying for a stay on the ICC report. The notice was posted for the end of October.

Just then the #MeToo movement started sweeping social media with a volley of sexual harassment allegations against powerful men, including BJP Minister MJ Akbar.

Mahajan, too, took to Twitter to question Chandrashekhar.  That's when Khare approached the  court again and obtained an ex-parte injunction on October 8 restraining the Namma Bengaluru Foundation from acting on the ad hoc committee’s recommendations and barring it and Sonam Mahajan from speaking or writing or communicating any details about the charges against Khare, said The Wire report.