The Supreme Court declined urgent hearing of #MeToo petition
The Supreme Court has declined an urgent hearing of a petition on #MeToo on Monday. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice S K Kaul told the petitioner that it will come up for hearing in the "regular course."
The petitioner, ML Sharma, a lawyer, said in his plea that First Information Reports or FIRs must be filed in all #MeToo complaints. Mr Sharma wants special fast track courts set up for the cases related to sexual harassment and financial assistance and security for all complainants. The National Women's Commission must provide legal help to the victims, said Mr Sharma in his petition.
The #MeToo movement, which started with actor Tanushree Dutta outing Nana Patekar, in September, for allegedly harassing her on the set of a 2008 film, continues to expose people across the spectrum. The latest to be accused is music composer Anu Malik, who had to quit as a judge in Indian Idol 10. Singer Sona Mohapatra and later, Shweta Pandit accused the 57-year-old musician of sexual harassment.
Earlier, leading Bollywood filmmakers like Subhash Ghai, Vikas Behl, Alok Nath and Rajat Kapoor among others have been named in #MeToo.
Former union minister MJ Akbar, who had to quit following allegations of sexual harassment during his days as an editor, has filed a defamation case against journalist Priya Ramani for calling him out. Around 20 women journalists have pledged to testify in court against him. Mr Akbar has to be present in court on October 31, to record his statement.