NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Tuesday issued summons to journalist Priya Ramani in a defamation case filed by former Union Minister M.J. Akbar. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal asked Ramani to appear before the court on February 25. Akbar's counsel and senior advocate Geeta Luthra and lawyer Sandeep Kapur told the court that Ramani had damaged Akbar's reputation which he had built over the years through hard work.

The court said that "at this stage, the court only has the version of the complainant, who has on oath deposed in court that all the allegations made are false and further brought witnesses to vouch for his impeccable and unblemished reputation". The three witnesses -- Tapan Chaki, Manjar Ali and Rachna Grover -- who were associated with Akbar earlier deposed before the court, saying they were extremely "distressed and dismayed" as grave damage has been caused to his reputation due to the allegations. The court had also recorded the statements of Akbar and Joyeeta Basu, the editor of Sunday Guardian, in the matter.

After order was passed, on Twitter, Ramani wrote, "Time to tell our side of the story :)"


Ramani was the first in a long list of women journalists to accuse the former Minister of State for External Affairs and journalist-turned-politician of sexual harassment. Many journalists from multiple media platforms have come forward with their stories of harassment against MJ Akbar under the social media campaign '#Metoo' against sexual misconduct.

Akbar, however, has denied the allegations and filed a private criminal defamation complaint against Priya Ramani, one of the accusers. He said that charges are "false, wild and baseless".

(additional input from agencies)