Nana Patekar, Vivek Agnihotri have slapped legal notices on me, claims Tanushree Dutta

In another development in the ongoing controversy between Tanushree Dutta and Nana Patekar, the actress has claimed that she has been served legal notices by Patekar and filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri.

In a long statement, sent through her publicist, Dutta says, "I have been slapped with two legal notices today. One from Nana Patekar and another from Vivek Agnihotri. This is the price you pay for speaking out against harassment, humiliation and injustice in India. Both Nana's and Vivek Agnihotri's teams are on a smear campaign against me by constructing outright lies and misinformation on social media platforms and other public platforms. Their supporters are coming ahead and weaving damning allegations against me even shouting at the top of their voices at press conferences."

She also claimed that a couple of strangers tried barging into her house yesterday. “Today while I was at home and the police personnel posted outside my home were on a lunch break, two unnamed suspicious individuals tried getting into our home uninvited but were stopped just in time by security personnel in the building. Later the police came back from their break and secured the premises again. Violent threats are being issued against me by the MNS party,” she added.

Dutta believes fighting a court battle is of no use in India. “I am being threatened to be dragged into the court and legal system of India which we all know can keep a woman and her supporters as well as media silent on the pretext of ‘matter subjudice’ but can also further be used to harass her and drain her out financially. ‘Tareek pe Tareek pe tareek’ and the dawn of justice never arrives and her whole life goes waste awaiting justice while witnesses are intimidated, discredited or simply drained of their will to stand up,” she said.

Dutta added, “False witnesses supporting perpetrators [are] conjured up to further weaken her case. Court cases can run for decades without a hope for a conclusion. At the end an empty shell remains, broken hopes, A life wasted, defeated. This is the age old saga of survivors in our nation.”

The Aashiq Banaya Aapne: Love Takes Over (2005) actress said that she was in a better state when she decided to move away from India 10 years ago and practised spirituality. “I walked away once from the same environment that was created for me 10 years ago. Found God, found my healing, found my peace and a new life in the United States of America. And now I stand to lose this new life too if I allow myself to get embroiled in the court system of India. And you wanted to know why the me too movement hasn’t happened in India. This is why,” she signed off.

Meanwhile, Agnihotri’s lawyer Nidhish Mehrotra has issued a statement on behalf of the filmmaker. It said, “The allegations levelled against my client Mr. Vivek Agnihotri by Ms.Tanushree Dutta for misbehaviour and/or harassment are absolutely false, frivolous and vexatious. These allegations are deliberate and have been borne with an intent to attract publicity and wreak personal vendetta against my client with mala-fide intentions. On the instruction of my client, we have served a legal notice to initiate defamation action against her and all the news agencies that have engaged in unethical and immoral conduct to promote sensational journalism without any diligence or proper verification and with the intent of defaming my client.”

He also appealed to the media and citizens. “This press release also requests all the media agencies, their electronic channels and social media handles and public at large to refrain from reporting in this case against my client without evidence. Failing which, we shall be forced to take necessary legal action,” said the statement.