Former Union minister MJ Akbar’s lawyer Geeta Luthra told a court in Delhi on Thursday that she was shocked by how journalist Priya Ramani...
Former Union minister MJ Akbar’s lawyer Geeta Luthra told a court in Delhi on Thursday that she was shocked by how journalist Priya Ramani called him a predator with the “power of pen”, Live Law reported.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Pandey was hearing arguments in the criminal defamation case filed against Ramani by Akbar. She had accused Akbar of sexual harassment in 2018, when the #MeToo movement began in India. After this, Akbar resigned from the Union Council of Ministers.
Luthra told the court that that someone’s reputation could be spoiled without any proof just with the “brush of a pen”. She added that being a journalist, Ramani should know the meaning of the words she used. “I am shocked to see how by the power of a pen a person can be called a predator,” she added.
She added that Ramani should have given proof of her allegations against Akbar, according to Bar and Bench. “When you cast an aspersion on someone, you have to show evidence and what investigation you have done,” Luthra said. “I am shocked and scandalised. I’m completely devastated by this that someone can call someone a predator with so much ease.”
Also read: Priya Ramani case: MJ Akbar tells Delhi court he was labelled sexual predator ‘without any basis’
Akbar’s lawyer...
