M J Akbar Loses Defamation Case Against Priya Ramani
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-02-17 15:23:47
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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
In a huge victory for women who are sexually harassed by influential people and find themselves at the receiving end of various kinds of intimidation, a Delhi court has acquitted journalist Priya Ramani in the defamation case filed against her by former editor and Union minister M J Akbar whom she had accused of sexually harassing her when she had gone to him for a job interview.
M J Akbar was a hero to many young and aspiring journalists of the time as he transformed the daily newspaper by starting The Telegraph in Kolkata under the Ananda Bazar group. In the process, he also smashed the decades old monopoly of The Statesman in the city. But as a flood of sexual harassment charges started pouring in against him after Ramani's disclosure, people were shocked and Akbar had to resign from the Union cabinet. He filed the defamation suit against Ramani as much to protect his reputation as to intimidate her and give a signal to others that they will also face such action. He wanted them to back off but a spirited Ramani fought all the way and won the case.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Pandey was very clear in his verdict. He dismissed the charges as he said that the "right of reputation cannot be protected at the cost of right to dignity". The judge categorically stated that "even a man of social status can be a sexual harasser," implying correctly that the standing of the man cannot dictate whether he will commit the crime. He also said that "it can't be ignored that most times sexual harassment is committed behind closed doors" and "most of the women who suffer abuse can't often speak up due to stigma and attack on their character." The court also made it clear that no limitation about time can be placed on women coming out to report such cases.
But one feels that winning the defamation case is one part of the story. One also feels that Akbar is likely to pursue the case in higher courts. Intead of getting bogged down by that, Priya Ramani should now take up the sexual harassment case against Akbar and make him pay for the trauma he caused to her over two decades ago. All others who also accused Akbar of the same crime should also take up the cases. If even one conviction is obtained from the courts, that would be the real victory.
