MJ Akbar shying away from hotel room incident, has shown great anxiety: Rebecca John argues for Priya Ramani before Delhi Court

MJ Akbar is shying away from the incident of the hotel room as narrated by Priya Ramani in her Vogue article and testimony, Senior Advocate Rebecca John argued before a Delhi court today. (MJ Akbar vs Priya Ramani)

"The complainant side has shown great anxiety on not touching the incident of the hotel room. They didn't ask anything. There is very strange anxiety to not touch it.", John said.

She added,

"They didn't ask which room, which floor, what was the colour of the bedsheet. That Mr Akbar was in a different hotel or was not in Bombay. The court can determine that they are shying away."

John, who appears for Priya Ramani, was arguing before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Pandey, Rouse Avenue Court Complex, Delhi.

Court is hearing final arguments afresh after the transfer of Judge Vishal Pahuja.

During the course of her arguments, John dealt that Akbar's contention that no call records were produced in support of Ramani's claim that she had spoken to her friend, Nilofer, on the night of the incident.

She remarked,

"In this country, nobody can produce call records from 1993. Even MTNL won't have it.. This argument is neither here nor there."

She further argued that Nilofer testimony as a defence witness and her "spontaneous" WhatsApp message dated October 8, 2018 were enough to prove Ramani's stand.

"It is no doubt true that Nilofer was not present in the hotel room. But she was present till Ramani entered the hotel and she was the person Ramani called that night and confided in her..Truth has been corroborated by Nilofer and the WhatsApp message.", John said.

John stressed upon the public interest in matters of sexual harassment at the workplace and said that in 1993-94, there was no redressal mechanism for the victims like Priya Ramani.

Hearing in the matter would continue on December 14 at 11 am.

In October 2018, MJ Akbar had filed a criminal defamation complaint against journalist, Priya Ramani after she took to twitter to level allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

Read the full account of today's hearing here: