A viral comedy show clip that led to a Gurugram techie losing his job has sparked a broader debate in corporate India, with companies and institutions reassessing how far they can regulate employees’ conduct outside the workplace.
The controversy centres on 23-year-old web developer Himanshu Jangra, who was dismissed by Gurugram-based Starvik Design after a clip from comedian Pranit More’s stand-up show went viral. In the clip, Jangra suggested that spending Rs 370 on biryani during a date entitled him to “something” from the woman.
Starvik founder Vivek Vishwakarma said the company conducted an internal review before terminating Jangra’s employment, citing the impact of the episode on the workplace and the team.
The legal consequences have also escalated. Gurugram Police have booked Jangra and More under Section 67 of the IT Act and relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to obscenity and harassment, following a complaint by the National Commission for Women (NCW). Both have been summoned by the NCW on June 22.
The incident has prompted discussions within corporate circles on whether existing codes of conduct adequately cover employees’ behaviour outside office hours.
“We’ve started informally discussing whether our code of conduct needs a clause for exactly this kind of situation — someone attending an event in a personal capacity, getting filmed, and the clip blowing up days later. Nothing’s in writing yet, but it’s now on the table,” said an HR manager at a Cyber City-based startup, requesting anonymity. The debate has spread beyond startups. A senior consultant at one of the Big Four firms said the issue had recently come up informally within their team.
“It wasn’t a formal memo, just a heads-up to be mindful of what we post or how we behave at public events — the sense that we’re being watched even outside work now,” the consultant said.
Employment experts say the case exposes a grey area in Indian workplace policies. Most organisations rely on broad clauses such as “conduct unbecoming” or actions causing “reputational harm” rather than explicit guidelines for off-duty conduct that gains traction on social media. As a result, disciplinary action often remains discretionary, with little legal precedent.
HR consultants believe the controversy may encourage companies to formally define expectations around employees’ public behaviour instead of dealing with such incidents on a case-by-case basis.
The scrutiny has also extended beyond the corporate sector. Another clip from the same comedy show featured final-year MBBS student Sejal Pawar of Mumbai’s KEM Hospital making derogatory remarks about male cadavers. The hospital placed her on 15 days’ forced leave, barred her from the campus pending an inquiry, while Maharashtra Cyber Police also booked Pawar, along with More and Jangra.
