MJ Akbar records statement in defamation case, junks #MeToo allegations

Akbar appeared before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal and recorded his statement to support the defamation complaint filed by him against Ramani on October 15.

Former Union minister M J Akbar, who has filed a criminal defamation case against journalist Priya Ramani, told a Delhi court on Wednesday that an "immediate damage" has been caused to him due to the "scurrilous", concocted and false allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against him.

Akbar appeared before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal and recorded his statement to support the defamation complaint filed by him against Ramani on October 15.

Ramani has accused Akbar of sexual misconduct around 20 years ago.

"Indeed there was an immediate damage because of the scurrilous nature of these concocted and false allegations. I was attacked in my personal capacity about alleged and fabricated non-events allegedly done two decades ago," he said in his statement.

"I chose in that environment to seek justice in my personal capacity without the Appurtenance of Office. This is why I offered my registration as Minister of State, Govt of India. My reputation has been tarnished in the eyes of general public and those who are near and dear and known to me," he said.

Akbar, who had resigned from the Union Council of Ministers on October 17, has concluded the recording of his statement.

The court has fixed November 12 for further hearing of the case when the statements of witnesses named by Akbar will be recorded.

Akbar's name cropped up on the social media when he was in Nigeria, as the #MeToo campaign raged on in India. Multiple women have come out with accounts of alleged sexual harassment by him when he was a journalist.

Akbar had termed the allegations "false, fabricated and deeply distressing" and said he was taking appropriate legal action against them.

Expressing her readiness to fight the defamation allegations, Ramani had said, "Rather than engage with the serious allegations that many women have made against him, he seeks to silence them through intimidation and harassment." Akbar's plea had listed alleged defamatory imputations made by Ramani on the social media and also referred to his "long and illustrious" career as a journalist while terming the allegations of Ramani as a "figment of her imagination".

It had termed as "scandalous" the allegations made by Ramani and said the "very tone and tenor" are "ex-facie defamatory".

The plea said they have not only damaged his goodwill and reputation in his social circle but also affected Akbar's reputation in "the community, friends, family and colleagues" and caused "irreparable loss" and "tremendous distress".

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#MeToo: Varun Grover calls harassment accusation 'traumatic', seeks closure

Grover said there has been no inquiry into his case despite his willingness.

Business Standard : Writer-lyricist Varun Grover has penned an open letter in response to an anonymous allegation of sexual harassment against him on Twitter, saying there is an "earnest need" from his side to prove his innocence as he wants closure.

Grover, who has been a vocal supporter of #MeToo movement, said the allegation against him has not only affected his mental health and professional life but also his ability to take a social stand.

"Revolutions are beautiful. They are cathartic, powerful, necessary, and like #metoo - inevitable. And revolutions, inevitably, have some collateral damage too," Grover said in a post on Medium, which he shared on Tuesday.

"...Am I angry? Yes. Is my mental health in shambles? Yes. Do I occasionally feel like a victim of an agenda? Yes. And would I still say 'Believe All Women'? Yes. But please bring in the checks to differentiate it from 'Believe All Screenshots'. Revolutions can be messy but they can't be perceived as unjust."

The "Sacred Games" writer said it had been a traumatic week for him but he is confident that he can prove the anonymous allegation against him to be false.

Grover said he understands that the movement is bigger and more important than him but his "isolated small" case affects him, his family and friends in a big way.

"It affects not just my mental health and professional life but my ability to take a social stand on every injustice I want to speak about.

"And therefore, I feel this earnest need to present my side even though no formal complaint has been filed against me. This closure is needed to maintain my own sanity," he added.

Grover said there has been no inquiry into his case despite his willingness. He said it has been hurtful to find being framed as a sexual assaulter and be bundled with other prominent names by the media.

The allegation, an anonymous screenshot, claimed that Grover sexually harassed his junior while he was in college in Varanasi. The screenshot, which was later deleted, claimed that it happened during the production of a mythological play.

The lyricist had categorically denied the allegation in a point-by-point rebuttal earlier and in his latest blog, he presented new facts to counter the claim.

He said the female strength of his juniors from batch 2000-2004 and 2001 to 2005 was a total of 36 and out of which his theatre group worked with only four women, who personally reached out to him after the news broke to express their solidarity with him.

Grover said the women further extended their support by reaching out to the rest of the 32 female students and received confirmation from each one of them that "such an incident did not happen."... Read More

#MeToo: M J Akbar accuses Ramani of willfully defaming him, files complaint

Section 500 of the IPC provides that an accused may be awarded two years jail term or fine or both in the event of conviction.

Union minister M J Akbar on Monday filed a private criminal defamation complaint against journalist Priya Ramani who recently levelled charges of sexual misconduct against him as the #MeToo campaign raged in India.

The Minister of State for External Affairs has accused Ramani of "willfully, deliberately, intentionally and maliciously" defaming him and has sought her prosecution under the penal provision on defamation.

"The complainant (Akbar) also had a long career in journalism, he launched India's first weekly political news magazine...," the complaint said and listed out defamatory imputations made by Ramani on social media against him.

ALSO READ: Sexual harassment: Why #MeToo storm before Lok Sabha polls, asks M J Akbar

Whilst it is apparent that the accused has resorted to a series of maliciously serious allegations which she is diabolically and viciously spreading in media, it is also apparent that false narrative against the complainant (Akbar) is being circulated in a motivated manner for the fulfilment of an agenda, the complaint said.

It termed as "scandalous" the allegations made by Ramani against Akbar and said "very tone and tenor" are ex-facie defamatory and they have not only damaged his goodwill and reputation in his social circle but also affected Akbar's reputation in the community and friends, family and colleagues and caused irreparable loss and tremendous distress

The complaint, filed through advocate Sandeep Kapur, seeks issuance of notice to Ramani under Section 499 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Section 500 of the IPC provides that an accused may be awarded two years jail term or fine or both in the event of conviction.

Hours after returning from a trip to Africa, Akbar had termed allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by several women as "false, fabricated and deeply distressing" and said he was taking appropriate legal action against them.

Akbar's name cropped up on social media when he was in Nigeria.

The women, who accused Akbar of sexual harassment, included Priya Ramani, Ghazala Wahab, Shuma Raha, Anju Bharti and Shutapa Paul.

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The old rules of the workplace aren't working. At least not for women

What is it that seems to stand in the way of greater strides by women in the workplace?

Business Standard : Despite clear gains by women in so many aspects of society over the decades, their progress in the workplace seems to have stalled. It is as easy to find a man named John walking the corridors of American power as it is to find a woman.

The number of female chief executives in Fortune 500 companies is 5 per cent and has actually declined — by 25 per cent — over the past year. In Britain, a study by the British Equality and Human Rights Commission found that a third of employers still think it’s O.K. to ask a woman during a job interview if she plans to have children. It’s not.

Women receive the majority of college degrees in the United States — and more advanced degrees — and yet they still must work four extra months to earn what their white male colleagues earned the year before, according to United States census data. When those numbers are segmented by race, it’s clear: Women of colour must work even longer.

And then, of course, there is the rise of the #MeToo movement, which revealed as never before the sexual pressure many women face in the workplace. At least one study has found that 81 per cent of women say they have experienced some form of sexual harassment.

ALSO READ: Why workplace safety should be a fundamental right

Economists have long contended that there is a clear financial case for gender equality: Companies are more profitable, more collaborative and more inclusive when they hire women. True gender equality, research from McKinsey & Company has shown, would increase the gross national product in the United States by 26 per cent.

What is it that seems to stand in the way of greater strides by women in the workplace?

At the New Rules Summit in Brooklyn last week, The New York Times gathered 250 of the boldest, most powerful, most successful leaders across business, politics and culture to consider that question.

We asked them to explore some of the challenges women face and to come up with practical recommendations for change that businesses, policymakers and even individuals could enact. Although The Times convened the event, we left the hard work of generating the recommendations to our guests. This section is the result: a playbook for change.