In a rather anti-climactic turn of events, the verdict in the defamation case filed by former Union Minister MJ Akbar against journalist Priya Ramani was deferred till next week..This, after Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Pandey stated that he had received the written submissions made by the parties late..In October 2018, MJ Akbar had filed a criminal defamation complaint against Ramani after she took to Twitter to level allegations of sexual misconduct against him. Ramani claimed that in December 1993, MJ Akbar sexually harassed her when she was called to The Oberoi, Mumbai for a job interview..Over the course of the trial, Ramani highlighted the volume of sexual harassment disclosures made by multiple women against Akbar on social media. The scandal eventually led to Akbar tendering his resignation as Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs on October 17, 2018..After a trial that lasted nearly two years, the Court reserved its verdict on February 1..While reserving the verdict, the Court had given four days' time to the parties to file their written submissions. While counsel for Ramani made the submissions on February 3, the note was submitted by MJ Akbar's side on February 6. The submissions were taken on record February 8..The judgment will now be pronounced on February 17.
In a rather anti-climactic turn of events, the verdict in the defamation case filed by former Union Minister MJ Akbar against journalist Priya Ramani was deferred till next week..This, after Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Pandey stated that he had received the written submissions made by the parties late..In October 2018, MJ Akbar had filed a criminal defamation complaint against Ramani after she took to Twitter to level allegations of sexual misconduct against him. Ramani claimed that in December 1993, MJ Akbar sexually harassed her when she was called to The Oberoi, Mumbai for a job interview..Over the course of the trial, Ramani highlighted the volume of sexual harassment disclosures made by multiple women against Akbar on social media. The scandal eventually led to Akbar tendering his resignation as Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs on October 17, 2018..After a trial that lasted nearly two years, the Court reserved its verdict on February 1..While reserving the verdict, the Court had given four days' time to the parties to file their written submissions. While counsel for Ramani made the submissions on February 3, the note was submitted by MJ Akbar's side on February 6. The submissions were taken on record February 8..The judgment will now be pronounced on February 17.