Maharashtra minister Deepak Kesarkar Wednesday came out in support of Nana Patekar, accused by fellow actor Tanushree Dutta of harassing her on the sets of a film in 2008, saying he is an "illustrious personality" who has done tremendous work for the state.
He also questioned the veracity of Dutta's claims and asked why was an FIR not registered all these years.
The Shiv Sena member said Patekar is known as a social worker, adding that unless there is a complaint, one can't accuse a person of his (Patekar's) stature.
"He is not just an actor. He is also a social activist who has done tremendous work for the state. You just cannot level allegations against anybody," he said.
Patekar is an "illustrious personality" who has done tremendous work for Maharashtra, the minister of state for home told PTI.
On Dutta's claims, he said, "This is not how the home department functions. Why was there no FIR registered in the last 10 years? What is the substantial evidence on which a complaint can be registered a decade after the incident took place?"
In a recent TV interview, Dutta had claimed that Patekar misbehaved with her on the sets of "Horn Ok Pleasss" 10 years ago. She also alleged that Patekar had the tacit support of the film's makers.
Many Bollywood stars including Farhan Akhtar, Priyanka Chopra, Twinkle Khanna, Swara Bhasker, Anurag Kashyap, Richa Chadha, Parineeti Chopra and Hansal Mehta have come out in support of Dutta.
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