New Delhi, Nov 1: Rakesh Sarna, former CEO and MD of Taj Hotels, has been accused of sexually harassing a former executive assistant.
Anjuli Pandit had joined the Tata Group in 2009 and after a break, she was back in Tata Sons chairman's office in 2014. A year later, then CEO Rakesh Sarna asked if she could be moved to Taj Hotels as his executive assistant.
Narrating her account in a column for The Indian Express, Anjuli Pandit said that the sexual advances started with comments about the worth of her physical appearance during her salary discussions. "Over the seven months, he (Sarna) remarked on my looks, his attraction to me and his desire to have an affair," she said.
The allegations had surfaced anonymously in 2016, during the Mistry-Tata tussle. On Thursday, the woman, Anjuli Pandit, revealed to the Indian Express that Sarna had made "repeated unwanted sexual advances" and that despite knocking on several doors to highlight his behaviour, she was "left with no choice but to quit".
In the resignation letter submitted on 3 November 2015, Pandit had alleged multiple instances of sexual advances by the former CEO. She said Sarna'a advances were "always verbal" and the work environment became "intolerable".
Pandit said that after approaching Taj board members, Tata Group Executive Council members and the office of the chairman, she was given the option of resigning from Taj Group and a demotion. Disheartened by the response, she quit.
A spokesperson for Tata Sons declined to comment to The Indian Express, saying the matter concerned Taj Hotels.