Payal Ghosh Was Going To Apologise To Richa Chadha For Naming Her In Allegations Against Anurag Kashyap. But There’s A Twist Now.

Payal Ghosh Was Going To Apologise To Richa Chadha For Naming Her In Allegations Against Anurag Kashyap. But There’s A Twist Now.

When #MeToo movement came to India, women were hopeful that things would change. And yes, you could say they did to a certain extent. But while plenty of women did come forth with their stories, there wasn’t enough legal follow-up for the movement to amount to anything huge, like the Harvey Weinstein case in the United States. Taking recourse to the law is the right way to go forward, not just to seek justice for the victims and punish the perps but also to ensure that there is no misuse of the law and an innocent isn’t caught in a social media trial. When actress Payal Ghosh levelled sexual harassment allegations against Anurag Kashyap, she happened to mention some actresses’ names in her interview. Now, after a 1.1 crore defamation suit filed against her by Richa Chadha, she’s all set to apologise for it.

https://twitter.com/RichaChadha/status/1313793551654768641?s=20

In her interview with a Tamil news channel, Payal Ghosh had revealed how Anurag Kashyap allegedly called her home on the pretext of a role. She claimed that when she refused his inappropriate advances, he told her that other actresses were just a phone call away for him. Payal Ghosh named Richa Chadha, Mahie Gill and Huma Qureshi as the actresses he was allegedly referring to. Mahie Gill rubbished the claim and asked not to be involved. Huma Qureshi refused to comment. However, Richa Chadha decided to take legal recourse and file a defamation suit against Payal.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFYCDmhj37W/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

 

Also Read: Kalki Koechlin, Radhika Apte, Taapsee Pannu And Other Actresses Back Anurag Kashyap Amidst #MeToo Allegations By Payal Ghosh

Payal’s statement caused a lot of backlash for dragging the names of her fellow women in the muck, and undermining their hard work which had gotten them to the position they were in, in Bollywood. Back then too, many people applauded Richa for taking the right step by reporting the alleged slander, instead of wrapping the matter up on social media itself. She sued Payal Ghosh, actor Kamal R. Khan and the news channel, ABN Andhrajyothy, which aired Ghosh’s interview for defamation, with damages amounting to 1.1 crore.

And now, after a Bombay HC hearing on the matter, Payal Ghosh’s lawyer has made a statement that his client is willing to tender a full apology to Richa Chadha for the slanderous statements. According to Bar and Bench, Bombay High Court recorded that Payal Ghosh will work out the apology and the statement’s withdrawal with Richa Chadha and her lawyers by Monday. The court directed Ghosh’s lawyer to immediately connect with Chadha’s lawyer for a settlement as well.

Furthermore, in the matter of Kamal R. Khan, who had also reiterated Payal Ghosh’s statements, his advocated stated that Khan wasn’t in India, and that he had only made the statements that were first put forth by Ghosh. The Court received an undertaking from KRK that he will not be sharing any content pertaining to Richa Chadha until Monday. HC also granted a temporary injunction against all news channels and people sharing any content pertaining to the dispute which is under proceedings.

Richa Chadha was praised once again for seeing the matter through in court, and not backing down. However, in a latest twist, Payal Ghosh has tweeted that she will not be apologising to anyone!

Umm, okay so we’re a bit confused here. Is there an apology or not? If not, why did Payal Ghosh’s lawyer put forth a different statement, something about how much the actress admired Richa Chadha’s work, and so on. We get it. Women need to stand with each other. But what is happening here is a mockery of the legal process, further diluting the spirit of the movement.

Also Read: Are We Dismissing The #MeToo Allegations Against Anurag Kashyap Too Quickly? Not Every Woman’s Experience Is The Same.

Jinal Bhatt

A Barbie girl with Oppenheimer humour. Sharp-tongue feminist and pop culture nerd with opinions on movies, shows, books, patriarchy, your boyfriend, everything.

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