Journalist Priya Ramani told a court in Delhi on Saturday that she deserved to be acquitted in the criminal defamation case filed against ...
Journalist Priya Ramani told a court in Delhi on Saturday that she deserved to be acquitted in the criminal defamation case filed against her by former Union minister MJ Akbar because she shared her experience in good faith and encouraged other women to speak out against sexual harassment, Bar and Bench reported.
Ramani’s lawyer Rebecca John, while submitting her final arguments in the case before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vishal Pahuja, said that Ramani had proved her allegations against Akbar with solid evidence, which were also confirmed by multiple women. “I proved my truth.. My truth was corroborated by Nilofer,” John said on Ramani’s behalf. “I pleaded good faith by stating that ‘I began the piece with my MJ Akbar story’ and then explained how the (Vogue) article should be read..I explained the nature of my tweets..”
John stated before the court that freedom of speech and expression was “critical and intrinsic” to a democracy and that Ramani was a small part of the larger #MeToo movement, in which thousands of women spoke about being sexually harassed.
Also read:
- #MeToo: Priya Ramani cites ‘vacuum in law’ for disclosing harassment allegations 25 years later
- MJ Akbar defamation case: Priya Ramani says disclosure of sexual harassment was for ‘public good’
John also cited United States...
