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Delhi Court Acquits Priya Ramani in M.J. Akbar Defamation Case
Case: Mobashar Jawed Akbar Vs. Priya Ramani
A court of Rouse Avenue District Courts, Delhi acquitted journalist Priya Ramani in the criminal defamation case that was filed by former Minister of State of External Affairs Mobashar Jawed Akbar regarding the sexual harassment allegations that were imposed against him.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Pandey pronounced the order while observing that a woman has the right to put up her grievance at any platform even decades after the incident and that she cannot be punished for raising her voice against sexual offenses.
The criminal defamation case was filed by M.J. Akbar in response to Ramani's tweets in 2018 during the #metoo movement in which Ramani had claimed of Akbar sexually abusing her when she was called to The Oberoi Hotel, Mumbai in December of 1993 for a job interview, back when he was a prominent newspaper editor. She also said that the harasser who she had mentioned in her 2017 article in Vogue was in fact, Akbar.
The then Union Minister accused Ramani of defaming him and filed a case in October of 2018 He stated that he used to have a stellar reputation in society, but the series of tweets from Ramani damaged his good name and led to social media trial against him which should not happen in a lawful society. The bench opined that M.J. Akbar is not a man of stellar reputation', based on testimonies of Priya Ramani and Ghazala Wahab.
Priya Ramani pleaded truth as her defense and stated that her actions were done in good faith, public interest, and the public good. M.J. Akbar however, put forwards that Ramani had acted with mala fide intentions and had 'fabricated events' to tarnish his public image. He also argued that he never met her inside the hotel.
M.J. Akbar was represented by Senior Advocate Geetha Luthra and Senior Partner at Karanjawala and co. Sandeep Kapur while Ramani's counsel was Senior Advocate Rebecca John and Advocate Bhavook Chauhan.
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