Tata Group takes direct control of Nashik probe: COO Aarthi Subramanian to investigate as NITES takes case to Union Labour Ministry

Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, personally intervened on April 13, 2026, in the Tata Consultancy Services Nashik harassment and workplace coercion case, describing the allegations as gravely concerning and anguishing and announcing that the company’s most senior operational executive will lead an internal investigation. The statement from the Tata Sons Chairman marks a significant escalation in the corporate response to a case that had until April 12 been addressed only through a spokesperson statement from Tata Consultancy Services.

In an official statement, Chandrasekaran confirmed that action has already been initiated against the accused employees and that Tata Consultancy Services is cooperating fully with the ongoing police investigation. He stated that appropriate and stringent action will be taken against those found guilty and that any necessary process improvements and corrective measures will be implemented and strictly enforced. Reiterating the group’s institutional position, he stated that the Tata Group maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of coercion or misconduct by its employees and that a thorough investigation is underway to establish the facts and identify all individuals responsible.

Who is Aarthi Subramanian and why has Tata Sons appointed TCS’s most senior operational executive to lead the Nashik internal probe?

The internal investigation will be conducted by Aarthi Subramanian, Executive Director, President and Chief Operating Officer of Tata Consultancy Services. Subramanian is the first woman to hold the position of Chief Operating Officer at Tata Consultancy Services. She assumed the role in May 2025 for a five-year term running to April 2030, sits on the Tata Consultancy Services board as an Executive Director, and reports directly to Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director K. Krithivasan. Prior to joining Tata Consultancy Services in this capacity, Subramanian served as Group Chief Digital Officer at Tata Sons, where she led digital, technology and innovation strategy across the Tata Group’s portfolio of businesses. Her association with the Tata Group spans more than three decades.

The decision to appoint the company’s most senior operational executive to lead the internal probe, rather than delegating the matter to the legal or HR function, reflects the seriousness with which the Tata Group is treating the Nashik case at the highest levels of corporate governance. Internal harassment inquiries at large organisations in India are ordinarily managed through an Internal Complaints Committee or an external legal firm. The appointment of Aarthi Subramanian signals that the Tata Group is treating the Nashik case as a governance and operational failure requiring direct executive accountability.

How has the Nashik SIT investigation progressed and what new evidence has been gathered as of April 13, 2026?

The Special Investigation Team led by ACP (Crime) Sandeep Mitke, constituted under the instructions of Nashik Police Commissioner Sandeep Karnik, has confirmed that statements from more than 15 victims have now been recorded. Digital evidence including mobile phones and laptops belonging to the accused has been seized and is under examination. The team continues to review footage from more than 40 closed-circuit television camera locations across the Tata Consultancy Services Nashik premises and is examining call records and witness statements alongside the digital evidence.

Seven individuals have been arrested: six team leaders identified as Asif Ansari, Shafi Shaikh, Shahrukh Qureshi, Raza Memon, Tausif Attar, and Danish Sheikh, and Nida Khan, identified by the Times of India as the Assistant General Manager for Human Resources at Tata Consultancy Services, who was arrested for allegedly failing to act on formal employee complaints. A further accused, a woman, was reportedly still at large at the time of the initial arrests. Police have indicated that additional arrests remain possible as the evidence review continues.

What has the NITES complaint to the Union Labour Ministry demanded and why does it escalate the TCS Nashik case into a sector-wide compliance issue?

The Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate, an IT labour union, has filed a formal complaint with Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, demanding a comprehensive, time-bound audit of Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act compliance at Tata Consultancy Services across all its establishments in India. The union also called for a wider state-level audit of Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act compliance across all information technology and IT-enabled services companies operating in Maharashtra. The Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate, through its president Harpreet Singh Saluja, stated that it had raised identical concerns with the central government as far back as May 2022, warning of absent grievance redressal systems, statutory non-compliance, and the vulnerability of employees in the IT sector. The union said the Nashik case reflects those concerns going unaddressed for nearly four years.

The complaint calls specifically for a review of all sexual harassment complaints received, pending, or disposed of within Tata Consultancy Services over the past several years, an assessment of the accountability of human resources personnel and senior management in handling complaints, and verification of whether employees faced retaliation for raising concerns. The Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate also called for the issuance of strict directions fixing employer accountability for failure to ensure a safe and lawful workplace.

The Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act, in force since 2013, requires every organisation with ten or more employees to maintain a functioning Internal Complaints Committee with statutory authority to receive, investigate and adjudicate harassment complaints. The arrest of a human resources official in the Nashik case for allegedly suppressing employee complaints has already demonstrated that HR inaction can attract personal criminal liability under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita. A Labour Ministry audit, if ordered, could establish a precedent for mandatory external oversight of Internal Complaints Committee functioning across large technology sector employers across India.

What did TCS clarify about its Nashik operations and what is the current status of the case as the dual investigation proceeds?

Tata Consultancy Services separately clarified on April 13, 2026, that it is not closing its Nashik operations. The company stated that the transition from its current Nashik premises is due to the expiry of the facility’s lease and that operations in the city will continue. Employee movements to other locations, the company stated, are part of routine administrative and project-based requirements and are unrelated to the ongoing investigation.

The case now involves parallel proceedings at two levels: the police investigation conducted by the Nashik Special Investigation Team and the internal investigation to be led by Aarthi Subramanian at Tata Consultancy Services. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfolio, has described the matter as extremely serious. The Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate has placed the case before the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment. The investigation is ongoing and is expected to remain under active judicial and political scrutiny.

Key takeaways on what the Tata Sons chairman’s intervention and NITES complaint mean for TCS, India’s IT sector, and workplace safety accountability

• Tata Sons Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran personally described the Nashik allegations as gravely concerning and anguishing on April 13, 2026, and appointed Aarthi Subramanian, Executive Director, President and Chief Operating Officer of Tata Consultancy Services, to lead the internal investigation — the highest-level corporate response since the case became public.
• The Nashik Police Special Investigation Team has recorded statements from more than 15 victims and seized digital evidence including mobile phones and laptops, with over 40 closed-circuit television camera locations under active review and further arrests indicated as possible.
• Nida Khan, identified by the Times of India as Assistant General Manager for Human Resources at Tata Consultancy Services, has been confirmed among the seven individuals arrested, on charges related to alleged failure to act on formal employee complaints.
• The Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate has formally approached Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya demanding a time-bound Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act audit across all Tata Consultancy Services establishments and a wider audit of IT and IT-enabled services companies in Maharashtra, citing warnings it had raised with the government as far back as May 2022.
• Tata Consultancy Services confirmed its Nashik operations are continuing and that the transition from its current premises is a routine lease expiry, unrelated to the investigation; the case now proceeds via parallel police and internal corporate inquiry tracks.