TCS orders work from home in Nashik as Delhi ATS team arrives to question accused

The Nashik office of TCS has been closed, and 150 TCS employees have been ordered to work from home, even as a Delhi-based Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) team arrived in Nashik on Thursday to interrogate the accused in an alleged sexual exploitation and forcible religious conversion case, sources said.

An officer and three employees have started the investigation. The central investigation agencies have taken serious note of the incidents happening in MNC companies. Nashik city police will take information about this from the complainants. Call data records (CDR) will also be examined.

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The TCS Nashik office is being searched, and a team from the company’s Delhi office has arrived to investigate the matter.

The Deputy Commissioner of Labour’s office has also raided the TCS Nashik office, while another team from the National Commission for Women will inspect the office on April 18.

Meanwhile, it has come to light that a party was held at a resort on Trimbakeshwar Road in Nashik. The SIT has raided the resort and seized its guest register, while the resort staff, as well as management, are being thoroughly investigated.

Allegedly, late-night parties were held in the resort between 2022 and 2023. Allegedly, it was during such late-night parties that the accused allegedly seduced female TCS employees, who are said to be Hindus by faith.

Meanwhile, in a significant development, a petition has been filed in the Supreme Court demanding that alleged forcible religious conversions at TCS Nashik be declared a “terrorist act”.

The police have registered cases against several people, including TCS Human Resources head Nida Khan. Some employees have also been arrested.

The matter has now been raised through an application under a suo motu petition pending in the Supreme Court. The petitioner’s lawyers told the Supreme Court that what happened in Nashik has shaken the conscience of the entire country and that the incident is not an isolated incident, but part of a very well-planned and organised effort.

The petition before the Supreme Court has contended that if religious conversion is carried out by force or fraud in an organised manner, it should be considered as an act of terrorism because such acts divide society as well as create an atmosphere of fear.

The petition pending in the Supreme Court has also alleged that such large-scale forcible religious conversion campaigns receive massive financial support from foreign sources, in order to change the religious demographic profile of the country to threaten its unity, integrity and security.

The petition has stated that the freedom of religion as granted by the Indian Constitution is not neither absolute nor unlimited, but is subject to public order, morality, health and law. Therefore, it does not entitle anyone to force or coerce anyone to change their religion, the petitioner has contended.

The petitioner has demanded that strict laws must be enacted to prevent fraudulent or forced conversions and special courts must be established to hear such sensitive and serious cases expeditiously. The petitioner has also demanded a thorough investigation into suspicious foreign funds used for religious conversions.