TCS Nashik Case: Plea Filed In SC Over Religious Conversion, Sexual Harassment Allegations

TCS Nashik Case: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court following allegations of religious conversion and sexual harassment at the TCS campus in Nashik. The plea was moved before the top court on Thursday and was filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay through advocate Ashwani Dubey. The petition argues that religious conversion not only poses a serious threat to the country’s sovereignty, secularism, democracy and liberty but also undermines fraternity, dignity, unity and national integration.

The plea has sought directions from the apex court to the Centre and state governments to take stricter measures to prevent and control religious conversions carried out through fraudulent means.

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According to a report by Bar and Bench, the petition also claims that the alleged organised religious conversion in Nashik has deeply disturbed citizens across the country.

What Does The Plea Say?

“All persons will have the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion and not that all persons will have the right to freely profess, practice and propagate religion. It means the right to profess, practice and propagate religion is free to everyone, but cannot be practised absolutely or freely.

The plea said it has conditions of public order, morality and health, and the other provisions of this part. The freedom to act upon one’s religion is not absolute, it added.

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“The expression does not mean that every person is free to do whatever they wish in the name of religion. Rather, it means that everyone has the right freely to profess, practise and propagate, but this freedom itself is subject to reasonable restrictions,” the plea said.

The plea has been filed by Upadhyay in his pending petition seeking direction to the Centre and states to take tough steps to control fraudulent religious conversions.

Observing that religious conversion is a serious issue which should not be given a political colour, the top court in 2023 had sought the assistance of Attorney General R Venkataramani on the plea.

NCW Takes Cognisance

Earlier, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has taken suo motu cognisance of the matter and formed a fact-finding committee to conduct a detailed investigation. The committee is scheduled to visit the site of the alleged incident on April 18.

The panel has been tasked with examining the circumstances surrounding the incident and assessing the response of the authorities concerned.

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The committee will also interact with victims, police officials, company representatives, and other relevant stakeholders to gather evidence. In addition, it has been directed to identify any lapses and recommend corrective measures.

TCS Issues Statement

Following the backlash, TCS issued a statement saying the company follows a zero-tolerance policy towards such harassment.

“TCS has a long-standing zero-tolerance policy towards harassment and coercion of any form. We have always ensured the highest standards of safety and well-being for our employees at the workplace,” the company said.

It added, “As soon as we were made aware of the matter in Nashik, we took swift action.”

(With inputs from wires)

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