NEW DELHI: Former Minister of Trade Unions MJ Akbar On Tuesday he told a Delhi court that journalist Priya Ramani did not make defamatory statements for the public good, but for revenge.
Akbar made the statement before the Metropolitan Additional Chief Magistrate (ACMM) Vishal Pahuja through his lawyer during closing arguments in a criminal defamation complaint filed by him against Ramani.
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, Ramani in 2018 accused Akbar of sexual misconduct some 20 years ago when he was a journalist.
Senior lawyer Geeta luthra, who appeared on Akbar’s behalf, told the court that Ramani did not make these statements (described by Akbar as defamatory) for the public good, he made them out of revenge. He didn’t even apologize for an objectively incorrect statement.
Ramani did not produce any landline phone records, parking receipts, no CCTV footage, nothing. He did not present any evidence to prove his story, the attorney said.
The lawyer claimed that Ramani wrote a fictitious article in the magazine, Vogue, in the context of the #MeToo movement with bad faith intent, as it was intended to tarnish Akbar’s reputation.
The reckless statements against Akbar were put in a public place without any care or caution … The effect per se of Ramani’s statements was defamatory, damaging Akbar’s reputation, the lawyer said.
.
