Former Indian minister MJ Akbar loses #MeToo defamation suit against journalist Priya Ramani

Ramani’s accusation against the ex-editor who became a minister in Narendra Modi’s BJP government led to about 20 sexual harassment claims against him

She said her victory ‘will empower more women to speak up’ and ‘make powerful men think twice before they drag other people to courts’

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Indian journalist Priya Ramani, left, smiles after the Patiala House Court in New Delhi acquitted her of criminal defamation after she accused a former politician of sexual harassment. Photo: AP

Published: 11:22am, 18 Feb 2021Updated: 11:25am, 18 Feb 2021

An Indian court has acquitted a journalist of criminal defamation after she accused a former editor-turned-politician of sexual harassment.

MJ Akbar, now 70, filed a case against journalist Priya Ramani in October 2018, denying the allegations as “false, baseless and wild”.

Ramani was the first to accuse Akbar of harassment, spurring more than 20 women to come forward with similar allegations during his previous career as one of the country’s most prominent news editors. A few days later, Akbar resigned from his post as a junior external affairs minister, becoming one of the most powerful men to step down in India’s #MeToo movement at the time.

On Wednesday, a court in New Delhi said “even a man of social status can be a sexual harasser”, and that the “right of reputation can’t be protected at the cost of right to dignity”, according to the legal news website Bar and Bench.

Ramani welcomed Wednesday’s judgment. “My victory will empower more women to speak up. This will make powerful men think twice before they drag other people to courts,” she told reporters.