#MeToo: Time to tell our side of the story, says Ramani after court summons

NEW DELHI: "Time to tell our side of the story :)", was the reaction of journalist Priya Ramani, who was on Tuesday summoned as an accused by a Delhi court for allegedly defaming former Union minister M J Akbar by levelling allegations of sexual misconduct against him.


Ramani, who claimed that Akbar harassed her 20 years ago, took to Twitter to react after the court summoned her on February 25.

She was the first among 20-odd female journalists who accused Akbar of sexual misconduct as the

#MeToo

campaign raged on in India.

The women, who claimed to have worked with Akbar in 1990s, include Ghazala Wahab, Shuma Raha, Anju Bharti and Shutapa Paul.

In its order, the court said the allegations made by Ramani against Akbar were "prima facie defamatory" and he had denied all the accusations as "false and imaginary".

It also 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".

Akbar, who resigned as Union minister on October 17, last year had filed a private criminal defamation complaint against Ramani after his name cropped up on social media when he was in Nigeria, claiming that all the allegations against him were false.