#MeToo : Retired Judges to Look into Cases, Says Minister

As the chorus for resignation of Central Minister and former Editor M J Akbar grew with more women coming out with sexual harassment allegations against him, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said a panel of retired judges would hear cases of #MeToo complaints.

“I am proposing to set up a committee with senior judicial and legal persons as members to look into all issues emanating from the #MeToo campaign,”  she said in an interview to PTI. She also said that she believes the pain and the trauma behind every single complainant, and her  Ministry would soon propose a committee for the public hearing of the #MeToo cases.

On Friday,  the #MeToo campaign saw more online allegations pouring in, including in the corporate world and Bollywood. The volley of charges has already hit the media and entertainment sector, leading to a few resignations and sackings.

According to a report in LiveMint, Tata Motors Ltd asked its chief of corporate communications, Suresh Rangarajan, to proceed on leave following allegations of inappropriate behaviour with a female journalist who had posted her account on Twitter.

Rangarajan was asked “to proceed on leave in order to allow for an objective enquiry to be completed as swiftly as possible”, Tata Motors said in a statement.

In Bollywood, several sexual harassment allegations were posted against director Sajid Khan, which led to actor Akshay Kumar tweeting in support of the complainants, saying that he had asked the producers of Housefull 4 to cancel the shooting until further investigation is conducted. He said that he wouldn’t work with any proven offenders.

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— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) 12 October 2018

Also Read: India’s #MeToo Is Here, Has Prodded Action Against Accused