#MeToo: Vikas Bahl's accuser decides to not pursue case against the filmmaker

The woman who had accused filmmaker Vikas Bahl of sexual misconduct and subsequent harassment at an event in Goa three years back has decided not to pursue the case legally. 

In a statement submitted to the Bombay high court on Tuesday, the woman said, "I do not wish to relive any further what has transpired and I request that my presence in this proceeding be dispensed with and I be dropped as a party."

Expressing her unwillingness to pursue the case further with a formal complaint, her statement further stated, "absence of a written complaint or FIR does not and cannot take away from the truth of my statements” made on an online portal about events of the intervening night of May 4-5, 2015. I affirm and stand by” the statements."

The high court judge was hearing a Rs 10 crore defamation suit filed by Bahl against his former co-partners of Phantom films, Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane and a few other media houses over #MeToo allegations. 

In his case, Bahl had alleged that Kashyap went to the media with a story based on false allegations due to his own 'professional rivalry'. 

Bahl counsel sought interim orders against Kashyap and Motwane from putting up any defamatory posts on social media against Bahl in relation to the case.  

Meanwhile, the woman's statement was accepted by the court. Justice Kathawalla, at the end of the heading, said, "If she says I want to forget the incident  and want this to be left behind should we not respect her wishes?”