Notice to club president for ‘beaming private chats of members on projector’

The president of the Bandrabased MIG Cricket Club has been served a legal notice by the Maharashtra State Womenrsquos Commission MSWC demanding a response within eight days The notice follows allegations by a group of women club members that screenshots of their private WhatsApp group chats were displayed via a projector during a meeting However club President Dr Mihir Bapat who denies receiving any notice from the MSWC said ldquoI have filed a countercomplaint with the womenrsquos commission They havenrsquot issued me a noticerdquo The four women members who claim to have been targeted have approached the Kherwadi police station and the Maharashtra State Womenrsquos Commission but no FIR has been registered yetWhat is the issueThe women members had created a WhatsApp group for casual conversations and what they described as ldquoharmless banterrdquo It is alleged that Dr Bapat called an urgent joint meeting of the managing committee and board of trustees on December 23 last year during which screenshots from the private WhatsApp chat groupmdashincluding conversations among six women membersmdashwere displayed in a presentation The members had been venting frustrations about the club presidentrsquos wife in their chat group However a mole within the group leaked the conversations sparking controversy just days before the club electionsMudslinging ahead of pollldquoAfter receiving a complaint from the presidentrsquos wife on Dec 19 we called an urgent meeting on Jan 7 to form a legal committee The panel including an independent female lawyer summoned all parties but the four complainants didnrsquot appear despite multiple notices With elections nearing this is just mudslingingrdquo said Shrikant Shetty general secretary MIG Cricket ClubThe complainants claim their chat messages were accessed without authorisation and leaked despite efforts to keep them private Representation picExplaining his side Dr Bapat said ldquoIn the meeting I showed chats that were sent to me by a wellwisher These were highly derogatory and inflammatory I firmly questioned the entire committee including the trustee I did not use any derogatory words during the presentation In fact the trustee admitted that she was part of this chat group wrote the messages and has personal issues with my wife This is clearly a case of a club trustee misusing her position along with her friends to defame the president and his wife ahead of the electionsrdquoThe controversy surfaced after a group of women members filed complaints at the Kherwadi police station and the Maharashtra State Womenrsquos Commission ldquoWe were informed that a joint meeting of the managing committee and board of trustees was called on December 23 2024 The woman trustee repeatedly questioned the validity of this meeting as it was not in accordance with the clubrsquos constitution However she did not receive a satisfactory response from any office bearers or the chairmanrdquo states the complaint letter submitted to the Womenrsquos Commission earlier this monthThe complainant further alleges ldquoDuring the meeting Dr Bapat started a presentation displaying screenshots of private chats from the Powerpuff Girls WhatsApp group Seeing these private messages projected onto a screen in front of 14 to 15 men was shocking and humiliatingrdquoUnauthorised accessThe complainants claim their chats were leaked and accessed without authorisation despite efforts to keep them private They allege that discussions about these chats were not part of the meetingrsquos agenda but were slyly introduced to publicly shame themldquoThe chats expressed our personal opinions about Dr Bapatrsquos wife Some of us including her are part of the cultural subcommittee and working with her has been challenging Raising a formal grievance was pointless since Dr Bapat himself was also the secretary of this subcommittee We merely shared our experiences within a private group without any intent to spread malicerdquo the complainant statesThe complainants further allege ldquoDr Bapat deliberately exposed our private conversations in a formal meeting misusing the clubrsquos platform for personal vendetta He humiliated the trustee in a room full of men using intimidating body language and threatening language The other office bearers including the chairman remained silent failing to intervenerdquoThey also argue that the women in the WhatsApp group were unfairly portrayed in a negative light while being denied the chance to defend themselves ldquoHaving men like Dr Bapat in positions of power makes women feel unsafe He would have reacted differently had the same banter occurred in a private chat among six men We have been tormented and humiliated while he remains unbothered by his actionsrdquo the complaint allegesThe letter further states ldquoThis is an unjust attempt to suppress our fundamental right to freedom of speech and opinion under the Indian Constitution Given the threats we have faced we have been forced to take legal actionrdquoCybercrime probeOne of the complainants in her police statement dated January 13 raised concerns about unauthorised access to their WhatsApp messages and private data ldquoI do not know how or to what extent Dr Bapat and others accessed my private messages and data Unauthorised access and extraction of WhatsApp messages without permission constitute offences under Section 43 read with Sections 66 and 66B of the Information Technology Act 2000 punishable by up to three years of imprisonment This hacking may have also exposed other personal images and data warranting further legal actionrdquo she stated in her complaintThe complaint further alleges ldquoThis was a preplanned criminal conspiracy The meeting was strategically scheduled and all those involved acted in complete synchronisation They must be tried under Section 612 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023rdquo She also claimed that there is an audio recording of the meeting that could serve as evidence but alleged that the accused might delete the recordingPolice responseA senior officer at Kherwadi police station stated ldquoWe were occupied with other cases but will look into this matter and take action as per the lawrdquoDr Bapatrsquos defenceResponding to the allegations Dr Bapat said ldquoMy wife filed a defamation complaint against three female members on December 19mdashbefore the meeting in question The agenda was communicated in advance and the discussion was conducted per club procedures No derogatory statements were made by me The chats were leaked by them not obtained illegally A member provided them to me I have followed due process by appointing an internal legal committee to investigate the matterrdquo Dismissing the allegations he added ldquoThese claims are baseless and aimed at maligning my and my wifersquos reputationrdquoldquoAs a husband I defended my wifersquos dignity As club president I upheld the clubrsquos values As a doctor I refused to be defamed for no reason My stance has been twisted to make me appear as if I have outraged the modesty of these women who have no evidence against me except these allegations They even failed to appear before the clubrsquos legal committee to prove their claims This is a deliberate misuse of the law to pressure me as a doctor and harm my familyrsquos reputation My response to the Womenrsquos Commission is under review and the truth will come outrdquo Dr Bapat said