Delhi Court Summons Priya Ramani In MJ AKhbar Defemation Case

Mumbai:  The accused senior journalist Priya Ramani by Union Minister MJ Akhbar of defamation has been ordered by the Delhi court to appear before it on February 25. It issued a summons to her as an accused.

Priya Ramani and other women have accused MJ Akhbar of sexual misconduct. In view of these allegations – and during the #MeToo uprising in India he resigned as the Union Minister of State for external affairs on October 17, 2018.

Later on, he filed the criminal defamation case against Priya Ramani. On January 22, the Delhi court had reserved its order, whether Priya Ramani is made accused in a defamation case.

According to media reports, MJ Akhbar told the court that due to “abusive”, fabricated and false allegations of sexual misconduct he had to face a lot of damage.  He has called the allegations “false, fabricated and deeply distressing”.

Akhbar is an Indian politician, who served as the Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs until 17 October 2018 when he had to step down due to a number of sexual harassment allegations against him from numerous women who had worked with him over the years, and rape by NPR business editor Pallavi Gogoi.

The BJP govt tried defending Akbar against the sexual harassment allegations but had to let him go because of public outcry and ask for accountability from Narendra Modi led government. He is a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, from He was inducted into the Union Council of Ministers by PM Narendra Modi on 5 July 2016.

He is also a veteran Indian journalist and author of several books. He first served as an elected Member of Parliament between 1989 and 1991 and returned to public life in March 2014, when he joined the BJP and was appointed national spokesperson during the 2014 general elections that brought the party back to the office with a simple majority under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi.

(With Agency Inputs)