The Patiala House Court has summoned journalist Priya Ramani in the defamation case filed against her by former Union Minister MJ Akbar..The order was passed today by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal after taking a the prima facie view that Ramani’s allegations against Akbar were prima facie defamatory..“Having all said and done, the allegations of the respondent (Priya Ramani) are prima facie defamatory and refer to complainant Mr. MJ Akbar, therefore he is an aggrieved person within the meaning of Section 199 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to file this complaint….The inquiry as contemplated under Section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure has been duly conducted by examining the complainant and his witness to arrive at the conclusion for this stage of the case. All that is necessary to take a prima facie view of that the offence of defamation has been committed against the complainant, by the respondent Ms Priya Ramani exists on record, therefore there are sufficient grounds to proceed against her. Accordingly, Ms Ramani is summoned commission of offence of defamation under section 500 of the Indian Penal Code.”, it recorded..Observing that good reputation, being an element of personal security, is protected by the Constitution under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, the Court stated that the defense to the offence of defamation “have to be pleaded and proved by the person charged with defamation” herself during the trial..“The words referred above are no doubt defamatory if they do not fall within any of the statutory defences prescribed by law itself. The entire burden will be on respondent to plead and prove the defence on which she may reply upon. “, it stated..Pursuant to the order, Ramani is required to appear before the Court on February 25..Ramani had accused Akbar of sexual harassment and misconduct in a series of tweets published in October, 2018. Although several women leveled allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment against the former Minister, Akbar filed a defamation complaint against Ramani alone..To establish that Ramani’s tweets and publication resulted in his reputation being tarnished, six witnesses were summoned before the Court to testify for Akbar..These six persons, namely Joyeeta Basu, Sunil Gujral, Veenu Sandal, Tapan Chaki, Manzar Ali and Rachna Goel, have been closely associated with Akbar at a professional and personal level..All six witnesses had acknowledged that they were shocked and dismayed after reading Ramani’s tweets and that Akbar’s reputation has been lowered in their eyes. They also vouched for Akbar’s credentials and professionalism, while stating that they had never heard of any complaint against him..In his own testimony before the ACMM, Akbar had described Ramani’s allegations as “fabricated non-events”..Akbar was represented by Senior Advocate Geeta Luthra along with Sandeep Kapur, Senior Partner at Karanjawala and Co, assisted by Principal Associate Veer Inder Singh Sandhu, Senior Associates Vivek Suri and Niharika Karanjawala and Associates Apoorva Pandey and Gudipati G Kashyap..Read Order
The Patiala House Court has summoned journalist Priya Ramani in the defamation case filed against her by former Union Minister MJ Akbar..The order was passed today by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal after taking a the prima facie view that Ramani’s allegations against Akbar were prima facie defamatory..“Having all said and done, the allegations of the respondent (Priya Ramani) are prima facie defamatory and refer to complainant Mr. MJ Akbar, therefore he is an aggrieved person within the meaning of Section 199 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to file this complaint….The inquiry as contemplated under Section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure has been duly conducted by examining the complainant and his witness to arrive at the conclusion for this stage of the case. All that is necessary to take a prima facie view of that the offence of defamation has been committed against the complainant, by the respondent Ms Priya Ramani exists on record, therefore there are sufficient grounds to proceed against her. Accordingly, Ms Ramani is summoned commission of offence of defamation under section 500 of the Indian Penal Code.”, it recorded..Observing that good reputation, being an element of personal security, is protected by the Constitution under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, the Court stated that the defense to the offence of defamation “have to be pleaded and proved by the person charged with defamation” herself during the trial..“The words referred above are no doubt defamatory if they do not fall within any of the statutory defences prescribed by law itself. The entire burden will be on respondent to plead and prove the defence on which she may reply upon. “, it stated..Pursuant to the order, Ramani is required to appear before the Court on February 25..Ramani had accused Akbar of sexual harassment and misconduct in a series of tweets published in October, 2018. Although several women leveled allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment against the former Minister, Akbar filed a defamation complaint against Ramani alone..To establish that Ramani’s tweets and publication resulted in his reputation being tarnished, six witnesses were summoned before the Court to testify for Akbar..These six persons, namely Joyeeta Basu, Sunil Gujral, Veenu Sandal, Tapan Chaki, Manzar Ali and Rachna Goel, have been closely associated with Akbar at a professional and personal level..All six witnesses had acknowledged that they were shocked and dismayed after reading Ramani’s tweets and that Akbar’s reputation has been lowered in their eyes. They also vouched for Akbar’s credentials and professionalism, while stating that they had never heard of any complaint against him..In his own testimony before the ACMM, Akbar had described Ramani’s allegations as “fabricated non-events”..Akbar was represented by Senior Advocate Geeta Luthra along with Sandeep Kapur, Senior Partner at Karanjawala and Co, assisted by Principal Associate Veer Inder Singh Sandhu, Senior Associates Vivek Suri and Niharika Karanjawala and Associates Apoorva Pandey and Gudipati G Kashyap..Read Order
