Withdraw case against woman journalist: Editors Guild asks MJ Akbar

A day after minister of state for external affairs MJ Akbar resigned over sexual harassment allegations against him, the Editors Guild of India has put out a statement asking Akbar to withdraw his defamation case against the woman journalist who has accused him of sexual misconduct.

At least a dozen women journalists have accused 67-year-old Akbar, a former editor of The Telegraph, Deccan Chronicle and The Asian Age newspapers, of inappropriate behaviour, joining the global #MeToo campaign. Denying all the allegations, Akbar responded by suing journalist Priya Ramani, who was the first one to accuse him of sexual misconduct.

“We hope that Mr Akbar will also display the grace to withdraw the criminal defamation case he has filed against one of these complainants. While Mr Akbar is entitled to all legal instruments available to a citizen to seek vindication, it would be paradoxical for a veteran editor to employ the instrument of criminal defamation. More so for Mr Akbar who happens to be a former president of the Guild,” the editor’s body said in a statement.

The criminal defamation case against Priya Ramani comes up for hearing in Delhi court later today.

Extending support to the women journalists, the statement said, “if he doesn’t, or in case he files such cases against other women too, the Guild offers its support to them. If any of them were to need legal advice or assistance, the Guild will do the best it can to help and also appeal to eminent lawyers to represent them pro bono.”

The allegations of sexual misconduct against Akbar date back to the years he was a journalist and newspaper editor in the 1980s and the 1990s.

First Published: Oct 18, 2018 12:21 IST