Ramani's statements lowered my reputation, MJ Akbar tells court

New Delhi

Former Union Minister M.J. Akbar on Tuesday told a Delhi court that the statements made by journalist Priya Ramani were defamatory, lowered his reputation, and were widely disseminated.

The submissions were made by advocate Geeta Luthra, who appeared on behalf of Akbar in a case filed by him against journalist Priya Ramani for her tweets accusing him of sexual harassment.

"Her statements were per se defamatory, lowered his reputation, and were disseminated widely," said advocate Luthra in the final arguments in the defamation case, adding that the allegations were unfounded and made without caution.

The advocate also read out the testimonies of the witnesses and said that person after person has said that her client had an impeccable reputation. Luthra added that Akbar's years-long reputation cannot be tarnished as there is nothing on record to justify the allegations.

In the wake of the #MeToo movement in 2018, Ramani had accused Akbar of sexual harassment during his previous role as newspaper editor 20 years ago. Pursuant to her accusation, several former colleagues of Akbar came out with different allegations against him.

Akbar resigned as Union Minister thereafter and filed a criminal defamation case against Ramani, asserting that her allegations were "false" and that they had cost him his stellar reputation.