After producer-writer Vinta Nanda accused Alok Nath of raping her, Nath's lawyer has refuted the allegations stating that anything posted on Facebook is certainly not true, and is mostly for popularity.
Speaking to ANI, the lawyer, Ashok Saraogi, said, "It is easy to make the allegations, of an incident which took place 19 years back; this itself shows that the allegations are false on the face of it. A person will never wait for a period of 19 years to make such allegations, especially when we have a democracy, when we have a proper ministry over here, to look after all these things."
Stating that all this has been done to defame his client's image, the lawyer further said, "I feel all this has been done only to defame his image and nothing beyond that. This is nothing but systematic conspiracies made by these people to suddenly defame his reputation under the name of the #MeToo campaign. I'm not against the #MeToo campaign, but as far as Alok Nath is concerned all the allegations are false."
Saraogi also stated that the actor has gone into a state of shock and will not be talking to media about the issue. "There is no need for Alok Nath to come in front of the media and talk about it. He went in serious shock yesterday and has recovered today. He will complete his shoot but will not talk to media. I will talk on his behalf."
He further revealed that to ensure a "good legal battle" he has advised his client to not make any comments in the media as they can be used against him. "As far as Facebook is concerned, it is not under the control of anybody and therefore anybody and everybody can put something on that and it cannot be taken as a gospel truth. That's why I have advised him to not go in front of the media because ultimately if any legal battle is to be done then any word used by him, can be used against him and since we are planning to have a good legal battle. It has been advised that he should not come before the media," he said.
Speaking on the Cine And TV Artistes' Association (CINTAA) notice sent to Alok Nath after the allegations surfaced, he said, "With respect to CINTAA, it is an association representing all the artists, as far as CINTAA is concerned, all the members are equal for them, so it is required to hear both the members and then decide on the issue. CINTAA may issue a notice but it will definitely consider all the evidences and then take the decision. If CINTAA finds the allegations made by her are false, they will take action against her as well."
Saraogi said that he plans to file a defamation suit on Nath's behalf if Vinta Nanda's continues to make similar allegations. "If this defamation continues we will definitely file a defamation suit and bring injunction so that she can't make baseless allegations in media and defame my client."
Earlier in the day, Bollywood actors Sandhya Mridul and Deepika Amin also opened up about facing rowdy behaviour at the hands of Alok Nath, and shared their ordeals on social media.
The #MeToo movement gained momentum in India after Tanushree Dutta accused Nana Patekar of harassment. Following the revelation, similar cases have come to the fore with the likes of filmmaker Vikas Bahl and actor Rajat Kapoor being levelled with similar allegations.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)