After meeting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijay Jolly, who has been charged for blackening the letetr box at the residence of former Tehelka managing editor Shoma Choudhary, National Commission for Women (NCW) member Shamina Shafiq on Tuesday said the commission would follow up on the case with the police.
"What he did was in the public domain and we have taken it up very strongly. I had asked for his explanation on this issue. In his reply, he has apologized for the incident. He said he did it on the spur of the moment.
"Since he has apologized and the matter is with the police, I think we should let the police decide whether his action was done on the spur of the moment or it was a planned incident", Shamina said.
Shamina pointed out that several BJP members have said that Jolly was denied permission to paint the board in front of the house of Shoma Choudhary. As such, what he did was a planned incident.
"We will closely follow this case with the police", Shamina said.
Earlier today, Jolly appeared before NCW and said that he had no personal agenda against Choudhury, and added that he had no intention to harass or intimidate her.
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He further said that his action was a result of his pent up feeling against the Tehelka management in dealing with the sexual assault case.
Earlier on November 28, Jolly wrote 'accused' on the name plate of Shoma Choudhury in black ink, while staging a protest outside her residence demanding her immediate arrest for allegedly trying to cover up the sexual harassment complaint filed against Tehelka founder Tarun Tejpal by a woman journalist working for the magazine.