A Delhi court on Thursday agreed to hear the criminal defamation case filed by M J Akbar against journalist Priya Ramani, who has accused him of sexual harassment around 20 years ago, and will record the statement of the former Union minister on October 31.

Taking cognisance of the complaint, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal heard the submissions of senior advocate Geeta Luthra, representing Akbar, that the "controversial" tweets and identical social media posts of Ramani caused irreparable loss to his reputation built over a period of 40 years.