MJ Akbar vs Priya Ramani Live: Court to hear former union minister's statement on October 31

MJ Akbar had stepped down as the union minister in the Ministry of External Affairs amid sexual harassment allegations levelled against him by over 20 female journalists. 

Akbar had filed a criminal defamation suit on Monday against journalist Priya Ramani, who was the first to come out and speak against him. The Patiala House Court on October 18, began the hearing on the criminal defamation case against Priya Ramani, filed by Former Union Minister MJ Akbar. 

The court has scheduled the next hearing on October 31 when Akbar will also be there to record a statement. A lineup of witnesses will at the court during the hearing. 

"Articles in international & national media quoted these defamatory tweets. Tweets are defamatory unless Ramani proves anything," Geetha Luthra was quoted as saying by ANI. 

"We have always maintained that not only at workplace but everywhere in the society women should be seen as equals, should be treated with equality. That is what we always say, there is nothing else to comment," union minister Prakash Javadekar told ANI. 

Akbar's lawyer Geeta Luthra said: "Irreparable damage caused to Akbar's reputation which he has built over 40 years."

MJ Akbar has not appeared in court today, according to India Today news channel. He will instead record his statement on October 31. 

Priya Ramani has hired lawyer Rebecca John to defend her. Reports state that she was the Talwars' lawyer in the Aarushi Talwar murder case. 

As an accused, in a criminal defamation case, Priya Ramani can depend on the provisions under IPC and the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal)Act, 2013. This act safeguards women at the workplace and also prtoects them against false allegations. 

The hearing regarding the criminal defamation case against Priya Ramani, filed by Former Union Minister MJ Akbar has begun. 

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal will be hearing the case. According to News18, Samar Vishal is no stranger to high profile cases. 

Senior advocate Geetha Luthra arrived at court to fight for ex-union minister MJ Akbar. 

The Guild citing that Akbar being a former journalist asked him to drop the defamation case against Priya Ramani. they went on to say that if Akbar did not drop the case, they would stand by Ramani and the 19 other female journalists who alleged that they were sexually harassed by Akbar. 

Nirupama Rao, the ex-foreign secretary stood by the #MeToo activists. She said that Akbar's continuation in the government was untenable. 

The criminal defamation case filed by Akbar against Priya Ramani will be heard by the Delhi Patiala High Court at 2:00 pm on Thursday. 

Priya Ramani, Ghazala Wahab and other journalists, who have levelled sexual harassment allegations against Akbar, have released a joint statement. 

"We are happy that Mr Akbar finally did the correct thing, and in the light of all that has emerged in the last couple of days, expect that he will also drop the bogus criminal defamation case against Priya Ramani," the 20 women said in a joint statement. 

Ghazala Wahab told The Quint that Akbar should have resigned on Sunday but it is better late than never. 

Priya Ramani tweeted that the women got vindication. 

On Wednesday, Akbar resigned as the union minister from the Ministry of External Affairs and submitted his resignation to the President. 

This move was done one day before the court hearing of the defamation suit he filed against journalist Priya Ramani. 

Akbar has filed a criminal defamation suit against Priya Ramani through the law firm Karanjawala &Co. who filed a Vakalatnama. 

He filed a defamation case under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code. 

It was rumoured that Akbar will have 97 lawyers fighting for him. However, only six lawyers have been named in the Vakalatnama. 

MJ Akbar was on an official trip to Nigeria when these allegations were levelled against him. He returned to New Delhi on Sunday when he issued a statement saying that the accusations against him were false and fabricated. 

According to ANI, he said," Accusation without evidence has become a viral fever among some sections. Whatever be the case, now that I have returned, my lawyers will look into these wild and baseless allegations in order to decide our future course of legal action."

Force magazine editor, Ghazala Wahab wrote a detailed article in The Wire, recounting her experience by Akbar who was the then editor of Asian Age and Wahab was an intern. 

After Wahab came out, at least nine other women stepped up to share their stories of sexual harassment by MJ Akbar. 

On October 8, journalist Priya Ramani was the first to state that MJ Akbar sexually harassed her. She confirmed that the man she had talked about in an interview with HuffPost a year ago was MJ Akbar.