Pahlaj Nihalani files police complaint against Mirror Now reporter; editor calls his tactics 'laughable'

Pahlaj Nihalani, the chief of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) of India, is in the news once again, and it seems like there is no way to keep him out.

This time, Nihalani has filed a police complaint against Himanshi Chaudhary, a reporter from the news channel Mirror Now. The police complaint alleges harassment, breach of privacy and intimidation, according to an NDTV report.

“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,” wrote Nihalani, in a letter addressed to a senior police inspector at the Girguam police station in Mumbai, according to a Zee News report.

In response to Nihalani’s complaint the editor of Mirror Now Faye D’Souza said, “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,” according to a report by The Quint.

Nihalani was recently embroiled in a  controversy once again after the CBFC ordered 48 cuts to the movie Babumoshai Bandookbaaz — starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Bidita Bag — even after giving it an ‘A’ certificate.

According to a report _,_ the film’s producer Kiran Shyam Shroff was also allegedly harassed by a male and female member of the CBFC for producing a film laden with cuss words in abundance, despite being a woman. They also shamed her for her outfit; she was wearing pants and a shirt.