Day after breaking silence on the #MeToo allegations, Union Minister MJ Akbar on Monday filed a defamation case against Priya Ramani.
Akbar filed the criminal defamation suit in Delhi’s Patiala Court via his through his advocates Karanjawala & Co.
On Sunday, soon after returning to India after a Nigeria trip, Akbar had termed the sexual abuse allegations as “false, fabricated and deeply distressing”. In fact, on Sunday itself, he had said that was taking appropriate legal action against his women accusers. He had also hinted at a political conspiracy behind the charges.
“The allegations of misconduct made against me are false and fabricated, spiced up by innuendo and malice. I could not reply earlier as I was on an official tour abroad,” Akbar, the Minister of State for External Affairs, said on Sunday hours after returning from Africa.
Calling the accusations without evidence “viral fever” among some sections, Akbar said he will initiate legal action against those who have levelled allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct against him.
“Whatever be the case, now that I have returned, my lawyers will look into these wild and baseless allegations in order to decide our future course of legal action.”
There have been mounting demands for his removal from the Union council of ministers after multiple women, as part of the #MeToo movement in India, came out with accounts of alleged sexual harassment by the 67-year-old Akbar when he was a journalist.
“Why has this storm risen a few months before a general election? Is there an agenda? You be the judge,” he said.
Akbar said, “Lies do not have legs, but they do contain poison, which can be whipped into a frenzy.” The minister said while some of these accusations are total, “unsubstantiated hearsay” others confirm, on record, that “I didn’t do anything”.
He also mentioned that two women who have made the claims continued working with him even after these alleged incidents. “This clearly establishes that they had no apprehension and discomfort. The reason why they remained silent for decades is very apparent.”
Before Akbar issued the statement, the Congress, at a press conference, questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the allegations against the junior minister and said as the head of the government he should speak on the issue.
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