A Nashik court recently invoked Lord Krishna while granting bail to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Nashik BPO sexual harassment and religious coercion case accused Nida Khan, citing her pregnancy as the reason for releasing her. Additional Sessions Judge KG Joshi granted Nida Khan bail, observing that social stigma will be attached to her child if it is born in prison. Nida Khan, who is five months pregnant, was arrested earlier in May.
The Additional Sessions Judge went on to compare the situation to the birth of the Hindu God Krishna, who was also born in a prison. The court described the birth of a child while the mother is in prison as a “painful situation”. “The trauma of taking birth in prison, like Lord Krishna or the social stigma attached to it, is not something that anyone can bear. To avoid such a painful situation and to welcome the newborn baby and the overall welfare, it would be just and proper to exercise judicial discretion in favour of the applicant accused,” ASJ Joshi noted in the bail order dated 6th July, as reported by Bar and Bench.
The court further justified the bail, citing that the investigation in the case was complete and the chargesheet had been filed. Therefore, there was no reason to keep her in custody. “There is no pending seizure or discovery of any property. The prosecution has not sought her custody for further investigation. No purpose will be served by keeping the applicant in jail,” the court stated in the 10-page order.
After securing bail, Nida Khan filed an application for the modification of the bail order, which required her to submit a surety of ₹75,000. Khan told the court that she was pregnant and poor and could not pay the said amount. She said that no one was available at her house to submit the security amount immediately and requested the court to reduce the amount of surety. The court partly allowed her application and allowed her to be released on executing a personal bond of ₹75,000 and depositing a provisional cash security of 50,000 immediately. The court granted her four weeks to furnish the original security amount of ₹75,000.
What is the case against Nida Khan?
Nida Khan was arrested on 7th May, almost one-and-a-half months after the FIRs were filed against seven accused for sexual harassment and religious persecution of Hindu female employees at a Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Nashik BPO in Nashik, Maharashtra. Her anticipatory bail plea was earlier rejected by the court.
Khan’s co-accused, Tausif Attar, was also granted bail, while the bail plea of another co-accused, Danish Shaikh, was rejected. According to the complaint filed against Nida Khan, she provided a burqa, shared religious material, installed Islamic applications on the complainant’s phone, and visited her home to impart religious practices.
The case emerged in March 2026 when a Dalit woman employee of a TCS BPO unit in Nashik filed a complaint against Danish Sheikh, accusing him of rape on the pretext of marriage, sexual exploitation, harassment and forcing her to convert to Islam. More women came forward soon, levelling serious allegations of workplace sexual harassment, molestation, abuse and insult to their Hindu faith by certain employees of the same BPO. Nine FIRs were filed in the matter, and it was mentioned by the victims that their attempts to raise complaints with the BPO’s management were ignored by the HR and the concerned authorities.
