Court to pass order on summoning scribe in defamation case filed by Akbar

A Delhi court will pronounce its order on January 29 on the issue of summoning journalist Priya Ramani as an accused in a defamation case filed by former Union minister M J Akbar for levelling allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal reserved the order after concluding the arguments from Akbar's lawyer, who contended that "prima facie" a case was made out against Ramani.

Senior advocate Geeta Luthra, appearing for Akbar, said that "because of these articles and tweets (by Ramani), a number of people formed opinion about me (Akbar) which defamed my reputation."

Akbar, who resigned as Union minister on October 17, had filed a private criminal defamation complaint through advocate Sandeep Kapur against Ramani after his name cropped up on social media when he was in Nigeria as the #MeToo campaign raged on in India.

Ramani accused Akbar of sexual misconduct around 20 years ago, which was denied by him.

The court had on January 11 .