'Corporate Jihad?': With No Conversion Proof, TCS Nashik Case Doesn't Add Up

"Why is the police silent about the CCTV records? What is there to hide?" ask family members of the accused.

Making of 'Corporate Jihad': 'No Conversion Proof, Nashik Case Doesn't Add Up'

(Photo: Vibhushita Singh/The Quint)

"Conversion racket," "Corporate Jihad" - these were some of the headlines that were plastered on news channels due to the TCS Nashik case. However, a few weeks later, there are more questions than answers in this case.

Family members of the accused and even independent journalists have questioned these claims and alleged more loopholes in the case.

 Take the case of Danish Shaikh.

Out of the nine FIRs, Danish is mentioned as an accused in two. The first FIR was filed at Deolali police station on 26 March this year, which also named Nida Khan. The second FIR was filed at Mumbai Naka police station on 2 April.

Danish’s uncle Fahad* told us, “In all the FIRs, there are allegations of these men being physically inappropriate or calling them (the alleged survivors) to their office. Danish has been insisting that the CCTV footage be released as it would establish that they did not do anything untoward.” 

Veteran journalist Niranjan Takle has also raised a similar question: “Why hasn’t the police released the CCTV records yet? Why are they not talking about it? Because the case would fall flat if they do.”

Most FIRs have sections such as those pertaining to assault or criminal force against a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty, offence for sexual harassment, hurting religious sentiments, defamation, among others.

Only the first FIR has BNS Section 69, which criminalises sexual intercourse obtained through deceitful means, including a false promise to marry.

Referring to this, Fahad claimed, “They have applied a section that blames him for proposing marriage, but Danish said the police should check his chats and call records. Even the complainant's claim of how they met was wrong and it creates doubts on all the claims."

Danish's marriage was not a secret in the office, he had married before he joined the company, his uncle said. Danish has two children, one is in standard 1 and the other is two years old. Fahad said Danish's wife, Muniba* also knew about the complainant and vice versa.

“Muniba has even shown her chats with the complainant, who was aware all along about Danish’s marriage so there is no question of him being deceitful or hiding his marriage. Danish was transparent about the fact there was nothing between the complainant and him," claimed Fahad.

Here are some of the claims mentioned in the FIRs vs the rebuttal by Danish’s family.

Claim 1: Danish and the complainant met at an Anand Resort before she joined TCS. She reportedly mentioned that they met in January 2022 and from July 2022 as well.

Danish’s uncle said, “Danish was questioned by all of us and he told us he met her when she joined the company in December 2022. There are media reports claiming that they met in college and studied together. That is false. They have a 10-year age gap. He did not know her before.”

Claim 2: Danish and few others took the complainant to their office terrace one night and made her eat non-veg food when she’s vegetarian.

“Danish is a vegetarian and his mother Tahira* also rarely eats meat. Danish used to take a vegetarian tiffin to his office. He does not eat non-vegetarian food. Very rarely does Tahira eat chicken and that's it. Why would he force anyone to have non-vegetarian?” asked Fahad.

Claim 3: Media has claimed that the complainant’s documents such Aadhar card, clothes were recovered from Danish's residence.

Speaking to The Quint, Fahad said, “Danish informed us that recently, just a few months ago, the complainant had visited their home and that is when she left her file there. As per Danish’s account, she used to confide about her life’s woes with him, told him about her financial situation and wanted to keep her belongings, including money, safe from her family. Danish was just naive to have accepted her things.”

“What has been shown in the media, is completely wrong. My son only had conversations; he did not do anything inappropriate. There is a process for conversion. It does not happen casually. The girl used to show interest in Islam,” Tahira,* Danish’s mother, told IANS.

As per a fact-finding report by Association of Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), Advocate Umesh Walzade, representing Danish in this case said:

“What constitutes conversion under Islamic religious practice involves taking a person to a mosque, having them recite the Kalma, and certain other formal processes. None of that occurred here. There is no evidence that Danish took this woman to a mosque or conducted any formal conversion.”

Moreover, there is no BNS section that has been applied in any of the FIRs that deals directly with ‘forceful conversion.’ The closest is section 299 which is added in four out of the nine FIRs. (Section 299: Deliberate, malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings).

Rahul Kasliwal, one the legal counsels of the accused, stated that as per APCR:

“The IPC and BNS sections invoked—including Section 299 relating to hurting religious sentiments—carry punishments of less than seven years. Following the Supreme Court’s recent position, immediate arrest is not mandated in cases with sentences of less than 7 years. What surprises me is that these are complaints about incidents from two to three years ago, yet arrests were made within two to three hours of the FIR being filed.”

‘Their Career, Reputation Has Been Ruined’

One of the images that was widely shared by journalists like Rahul Shivshankar and a number of other right-wing accounts was a photo of one of the accused putting on a skull-cap on another person. This was misconstrued as part of their ‘conversion’ tactics.

However, this could not be farther from the truth.

The Quint found the original video which includes audio. The audio revealed that the accused said he got the ‘topi' from Ajmer especially for his friends and colleagues as a gift. He puts the cap on his friend who smiles and responds with a thank you.

“We have seen and verified the video, the audio has been deliberately cut. It was just a gesture from the man for his friend. It’s all a conspiracy to defame these men, there was no coercion,” Takle told The Quint.

Takle has also pointed out another fact being ignored by the media.

He stated that it was one of the Bajrang Dal members, Nitin Gaikwad who pushed the whole 'conversion' racket narrative while the first FIR was being filed.

Fahad had also told The Quint that when the first FIR was being registered at the Deolali camp police station, around 150-200 Bajrang Dal members had gathered to exercise pressure on the complainant.

Takle also pointed out that in the TCS office, all the departments are segregated or compartmentalised. Most complainants are tele-callers who sat separately and in another part of the building, reducing the chances of frequent interactions.

“In all the FIRs, the sexual assault allegations have been framed in a dubious manner, because there is no forensic or even circumstantial evidence for the same," said Takle.

Another former employee of TCS who was publicly vilified by the mainstream media was Nida Khan. Her photo, her face has been used across prime-time TV debates and shows.

She was called the HR, framed as the ‘mastermind’ of the case but days later, TCS put out a statement contradicting these claims.

On Khan's case, Takle asks,"When the police went into the company undercover, how could they not get any evidence? How could they not find out that Nida Khan was never an HR but a process associate who was working remotely. Why was she still named as the mastermind?"

Advocate Baba Sayyed who represents Khan, said, ”Nida is described as an HR executive who ignored the victims’ complaints. This is completely false. She was never an HR. She held the position of Process Associate—a junior-level role with no authority whatsoever to receive or act on complaints. Her own suspension letter from the company confirms this. The HR narrative is entirely a media fabrication."

Moreover, while Khan was blamed for being an enabler in this alleged ‘conversion racket as the HR,’ TCS also stated that no POSH or internal complaints were filed by any of the employees. 

“She is genuinely confused. Her family is in deep distress. They are from a middle-class background and are mentally devastated watching the news coverage day after day. Courts do not run on media narratives, public opinion, or newspaper publications. Courts run on records, FIRs, and the evidence placed before them," said Sayyed, as per the APCR report.

But what of the seven men arrested and now in Nashik Central Jail? 

Takle has alleged that the families of the accused have informed him of police brutality in the jail as well. 

“This has been a conspiracy against the men, worsened to such an extent that their reputation has been tainted, they have ruined their career. Who is going to give them a job after this? How will they support their families? Will it not create a fear among these companies to hire Muslims?”

Niranjan Takle to The Quint

Their families are distressed and dealing with a barrage of conversion claims. But the lawyers of the accused continue to maintain that the claims do not add up. A Nashik court has reserved their order in the alleged conversion case and the next hearing in the case is 2 May.

Walzade said, as per the APCR report, “Forceful religious conversion is condemnable. But this case, as it stands, does not establish that.”

(*Names have been changed to protect identity)