A Delhi court will hear the defamation case by former union minister MJ Akbar against journalist Priya Ramani on Thursday.
Ramani is the first woman journalist to accuse the journalist-turned-minister of sexual harassment.
Former Minister of State for External Affairs Akbar had sued Ramani on Monday before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Patiala House Court as he accused her of “intentionally putting forward malicious, fabricated and salacious” allegations to harm his goodwill and reputation.
In a major development, Akbar on Wednesday resigned from his post in the wake of a series of allegations of sexual harassment levelled by at least 16 women.
In a statement issued to the media, Akbar said the accusations against him were false and that he would fight them in a “personal capacity”.
“Since I have decided to seek justice in a court of law in my personal capacity, I deem it appropriate to step down from office and challenge false accusations levied against me, also in a personal capacity,” he said.
READ | 20 women journalists support Priya Ramani, to testify against MJ Akbar
“I have, therefore, tendered my resignation from the office of Minister of State for External Affairs,” he said, adding that he is “deeply grateful” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for the “opportunity they gave me to serve my country”.
The government had been under pressure for his resignation, it is learnt.
As the #MeToo movement gained momentum in the country, 20 women journalists who worked with ‘The Asian Age’ newspaper came out in support of their former colleague Priya Ramani.
The journalists have urged the court to hear their testimonies against Akbar, claiming that some of them suffered sexual harassment by the minister and the others had been a witness to it.
“Ramani is not alone in her fight. We would request the honourable court hearing the defamation case to also consider the testimonies of sexual harassment of some of us at the hands of the petitioner, as also of the other signatories who bore witness to this harassment,” the journalists said in the joint statement undersigned by them.
Akbar, who returned from an official tour of Nigeria on Sunday, had issued a statement claiming that the allegations against him are “false and fabricated”.