Venture capitalist Murthy gets bail in sexual harrasment case

Hours after the Mumbai Police arrested venture capitalist Mahesh Murthy in a sexual harassment case filed by a Delhi-based woman, the start guru tweeted that he has been granted anticipatory bail.

"The court granted me anticipatory bail in this case some time ago. I am told it was a procedural technical arrest and I have already been released on surety," Murthy tweeted.

He further said that he had filed a case on the same issue in the Bombay High Court and it has already passed an interim order in his favour and against the complainant in April 2017.

"This is an attempt to counter-sue. I will fight this too in court to defend my reputation," he added.

The complaint against Murthy was forwarded by the National Commission of Woman to the Maharashtra Police, which passed it on to the Mumbai Police for investigations.

According to the Khar police station, Murthy, a resident of Bandra, had sent an indecent message on social media to the complainant on Christmas.

He has been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 354 (D) (stalking offline and online) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act.

"Based on a complaint filed at the Commission and following NCW's successful intervention, #MaheshMurthy has been arrested by @MumbaiPolice today u/Sec 354 IPC read with 67A of IT Act. @sharmarekha @MinistryWCD," the NCW tweeted.

The Mumbai Police had registered a case on December 29, 2017. Besides this, there have been similar complaints against him including by an author, who had accused Murthy of sexual harassment 13 years ago at a cafe in Mumbai.

Murthy is the managing partner and co-founder of Seedfund.