- Devendra Fadnavis called TCS's handling of harassment case serious but concerning for corporate jihad
- He questioned whether the TCS case is isolated or part of a larger design
- TCS is cooperating fully with police investigations, Fadnavis said
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said he is "glad" that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has taken the case of alleged sexual harassment and forcible religious conversion at one of its units in Nashik "very seriously", but the matter is still a cause for serious concern as it indicates at "corporate jihad".
Investigators have said at least seven accused operated like an organised gang to target women employees.
"We are very concerned about this because we have seen this jihad in various other forms. We saw love jihad, we saw land jihad, but corporate jihad I believe is a very serious situation in itself," Fadnavis told NDTV today.
"I am glad that TCS has also taken this very seriously. Their head has condemned it and they have given a completely free hand to our police. We will investigate this. They are fully cooperating with us, but we want to find out whether this corporate jihad is just an isolated incident in one office of a company, or if there is a much larger design behind it," the chief minister, who is campaigning for the BJP in West Bengal, told NDTV.
He said it is critical to check whether a situation like the one found at TCS has been happening in other offices and companies as well.
"We want to find this out now because certain angles are emerging, which I do not want to disclose today. But this needs to be looked at very seriously considering those angles. I feel that the kind of appeasement policy we see today, whether it is in Bengal or practiced by our Opposition across the entire country, is the result of that very policy that this jihad has now reached the level of corporate jihad," Fadnavis said.
The police have filed nine cases in connection with the allegations. The seven arrested employees include six men working at the TCS Nashik unit and a woman human resource manager. One woman accused is still on the run.
NDTV first broke the silence on the case in a live broadcast. Investigators believe the pattern of harassment dates to around 2022, running across multiple victims over three to four years, involving both sexual abuse and religiously motivated conduct, before the police moved in undercover.
The case involving years of alleged sexual harassment and religiously motivated targeting of women employees has shaken prominent voices in the corporate world.
"My first reaction was one of shock. TCS is a great company and I would presume they have good systems to prevent this kind of harassment," TV Mohandas Pai, chairman of Aarin Capital, had told NDTV on Tuesday.
