Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Pahlaj Nihalani has filed a police complaint against a television journalist in Mumbai, alleging harassment, intimidation and breach of privacy.

"She has been continuously harassing me in my office building premise, exceeding all levels of courteous behaviour, and bullying the security guards and office staff into letting her enter my office. She is intruding into my privacy by showing my footage," Nihalani accused in the complaint filed at Girgaum police station, about the 23-year-old TV journalist.

POLICE COMPLAINT FILED

"Whenever she sees me, she enters into the lift with me and switches on her camera and continuously pesters me to speak while I choose to remain silent. She portrays me in a derogatory and humiliating manner on television and is blotting my image," Nihalani's complaint further stated. But the channel and the reporter in question have alleged that it was the CBFC chief who grabbed her by the arm and intimidated her in his office on Friday.

The channel's editor defended the reporter, saying: "A reporter asking questions doesn't amount to harassing. If Mr Nihalani thinks by filing a complaint against the reporter he can intimidate her or the channel, he is mistaken. Using such tactics is laughable. We will be putting out the whole video shortly. It was Mr Pahlaj Nihalani who went on the offensive. He intimidated the 23-year-old reporter and not the other way round. He grabbed her by the arm, waved his fingers at her and misbehaved," D'Souza told The Quint.

NOT NEW TO CONTROVERSIES

Nihalani's relationship with the media as well as the film industry has been rocky all through his tenure because of his tendency to impose cuts in films for reasons most perceive are flimsy. A few days ago, he was in the headlines for imposing 48 cuts on the upcoming Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer Babumoshai Bandookbaaz despite giving the film an 'A' certificate.

A male and a female member of CBFC had also allegedly harassed the film's producer Kiran Shroff, rebuking her for producing such a cuss-loaded film despite being a woman, and shaming her for her outfit.

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