Mumbai: A Mumbai court has refused to take cognisance of “MeToo” allegations levelled against veteran actor Nana Patekar by his co-star Tanushree Dutta in 2018 after observing the complaint was filed “beyond the period of limitation” without explaining the reason for delay.

Judicial Magistrate First Class (Andheri) NV Bansal on Friday said that Dutta filed an FIR in 2018 over an incident that allegedly occurred on March 23, 2008.

About The Case

In her complaint filed in October 2018, Dutta accused Patekar and three others of harassing and misbehaving with her in 2008 while shooting a song on the sets of the film “Horn Ok Pleasss”.

The issue hit national headlines and sparked the #MeToo movement on social media.

The police, in 2019, filed its final report before a magistrate court stating that its probe did not find anything incriminating against any of the accused.

The FIR was found to be false, the police further said in its report. In legal terms, such a report is called a ‘B-summary’.

At the time, Dutta had filed a protest petition urging the court to reject the B-summary. She urged the court to order a further probe into her complaint.

The magistrate said Dutta filed an FIR in 2018 under the Indian Penal Code sections 354 and 509 over an incident that allegedly occurred on March 23, 2008.

Both offences have a limitation of three years as per provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), he said.

The purpose of the prescribing period of limitation is to put pressure on the organs of criminal prosecution to make every effort to ensure detection and punishment of the crime quickly, the court observed.

No application for condonation of delay has been filed by the prosecution and the informant to let the court know the reasons for delay, the order said.

Thus, there is “no reason before me to take cognisance after a long lapse of more than 7 years after the expiry of the period of limitation”, the magistrate said.

“If such a huge delay is condoned without any sufficient cause, then it will be against the principle of equity and true spirit of the law,” the magistrate said while concluding that the alleged incident “is not within limitation and the court is barred to take cognisance of the same”.

“The alleged first incidence cannot be said to be false nor can be said as true” as the court has not dealt with the facts of the alleged incident, it added.

The magistrate disposed of the B Summary report, saying it “cannot be dealt with due to bar of taking cognisance”.

Guwahati, March 7: Controversial YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia appeared before the Assam Police in Guwahati on Friday in connection with the case related to his objectionable comments in the ‘India Got Latent’ show.

The questioning of Allahbadia is underway at the Crime Branch of Guwahati Police.

Allahbadia was supposed to appear before the Assam Police the previous week in the case related to his controversial comments on the stage of the ‘India’s Got Latent’ show that has attracted massive backlash for the podcaster.

A case against Allahbadia was registered in Guwahati, and he was served summons to appear before the Assam Police here.

The Guwahati Crime Branch, in the previous week, questioned another YouTuber, Ashish Chanchlani, who has also been embroiled in the controversy for his comments made during an episode of the show.

The interrogation lasted for several hours after the YouTuber arrived at the Crime Branch office.

He was questioned about a number of accusations before being let go in the evening.

“Chanchlani showed up for interrogation at the Crime Branch. He has complied with our enquiry. We will phone him if necessary, but we are not currently calling him again. Police notices have not yet received a response from other people connected to the investigation. They will receive new summonses shortly,” Guwahati’s Joint Police Commissioner, Ankur Jain, told reporters here.

On February 21, the Supreme Court asked the Governments of Maharashtra and Assam to respond to the YouTuber’s request to have a formal complaint against the show’s controversial remarks dismissed or transferred to Mumbai.

When Allahbadia made controversial comments on the show hosted by Samay Raina, Chanchlani was listed in the Assam FIR.

Due to his tasteless remarks regarding parents and sex in an episode of the show, Allahbadia, better known by his stage name BeerBiceps, was the target of multiple formal complaints.

Mumbai, March 6: Bollywood actress Parineeti Chopra has expressed admiration for her husband and politician Raghav Chadha, calling him an “inspiring human.” The actress reshared Raghav’s video on her Instagram stories and captioned it, “Crushing on this inspiring human,” followed by a red heart emoji.

In the video, Raghav could be heard expressing his excitement about being invited to participate in the prestigious Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Executive Education Program.

The AAP Rajya Sabha MP stated, “I am super excited to be back at school. I am honored to be handpicked for this prestigious program and deeply grateful to the Harvard as well as the World Economic Forum for this opportunity. This is a unique opportunity to enhance my learning in global leadership and acquire a skill set in policy-making while engaging with some of the brightest minds in governance, public affairs, and public policy. It’s truly a ‘back to school’ moment for me, and I look forward to gaining new insights that will contribute to India’s policymaking landscape.”

Raghav also emphasized the significance of incorporating these learnings into India’s policy framework. “I am eager to bring back valuable global perspectives to enhance policy decisions in India. The world is interconnected, and learning from top policymakers and experts will help us innovate and craft better solutions to challenges that affect not just India but the world at large,” he added.

Chadha was recognized as a Young Global Leader (YGL) by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

From this select group of YGLs, a few are chosen to participate in the Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century program at Harvard Kennedy School. Scheduled from March 5 to 13, 2025, in Boston, Cambridge, this exclusive program gathers leading politicians, policymakers, executives, and thought leaders for an immersive learning experience focused on global governance, leadership, and policy innovation.