The judge told the two parties that he received written admissions late.
A Delhi Court on Wednesday deferred for February 17 its verdict in MJ Akbar's criminal defamation complaint against journalist Priya Ramani for her allegations of sexual harassment against him. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Pandey said that the written submissions from both parties were submitted late and hence he is adjourning the matter. The court had on February 1 reserved the judgment after Akbar as well as Ramani completed their arguments. While Akbar was represented by senior advocate Geetha Luthra, Priya Ramani was represented by senior advocate Rebecca John. Ramani had named MJ Akbar during the Me Too movement of October 2018, accusing him of sexual misconduct when she used to work as a journalist under him at Asian Age in 1994. Days after she took to Twitter to name him, Akbar filed the defamation complaint against Ramani on October 15, 2018, for allegedly defaming him by accusing him of sexual misconduct decades ago when he was a journalist. In his complaint, he accused her of resorting to “a series of maliciously fabricated allegations, which she is diabolically and viciously spreading using media.” He resigned as Union minister on October 17, 2018. Also read: Me Too: Timeline of what has happened in the Priya Ramani-MJ Akbar case so far During the court hearings as well, Akbar has denied all the allegations of sexual harassment against the women who came forward during #MeToo campaign against him. In her defence, Priya has maintained that she made the allegations “in good faith” and for “public good.” She has said that “the truth is her defence.” Referring to MJ Akbar, Priya Ramani’s counsel told the court in an earlier hearing that a person accused of sexual harassment cannot be of high reputation. Ramani has also accused him of undermining the sexual harassment that women go through at workplace by terming her allegations as fictitious. Meanwhile, Akbar, who has denied all the allegations, had told the court that Priya Ramani had defamed him by calling him with adjectives such as 'media's biggest predator,' and that harmed his reputation. The court had earlier reserved its order on February 1 and had given both parties five days to submit written submissions. Now the court is likely to pronounce the order on February 17.
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