Jindal Group Executive Booked Under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for Alleged Sexual Harassment on Flight

A senior executive of a Jindal Group company has been booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for allegedly molesting a female co-passenger on a flight from Kolkata to Abu Dhabi, according to PTI.

The FIR was registered on July 20, based on a complaint lodged by the woman's parents at the Airport police station on the northern outskirts of Kolkata, an officer of the Bidhannagar City Police confirmed. “We have started an investigation into the matter,” he added.

The case was filed under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 74 (assault or use of criminal force with intent to outrage modesty) and 75 (uttering words or making gestures or exhibiting any object in any form insulting the modesty of a woman).

In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), the woman recounted the incident, alleging that the 65-year-old executive initiated a conversation with her before showing her pornographic clips and groping her. The woman described the encounter, stating they initially engaged in a “normal conversation” about their backgrounds, hobbies, and families. However, the situation escalated when the man displayed pornographic content on his phone and began groping her. She recounted feeling “frozen in shock and scared,” eventually fleeing to the washroom and reporting the incident to the air staff.

The woman praised the prompt action of the Etihad Airways crew, who responded immediately and informed the Abu Dhabi police. The accused was taken into custody as soon as the aircraft doors opened. However, the woman was unable to file a complaint at that time as she would have missed her connecting flight to Boston. In one of her tweets, she tagged Jindal Steel and Power Chairman Naveen Jindal, expressing concern about how the accused might treat female employees under his authority.

Chairman Naveen Jindal responded on July 19, promising to investigate the allegations and affirming the group's zero-tolerance policy on such matters. The executive has been placed on administrative leave, and a third-party investigation has been initiated to probe the incident, according to a statement issued by a Jindal Group company on July 20.