MJ Akbar: I did not offer drinks to Priya, never met her in hotel

ExUnion minister MJ Akbar stated to a Delhi court on Monday that he did not ask scribe Priya Ramani who has accused him of sexual misconduct in MeToo campaign to meet him in his hotel room back in 1994 This is in regards to her alleged interview to join a newspaper of which he was the editorMJ Akbar who had resigned as minister on October 17 2018 following the allegations levelled during the campaign vehemently objected to the questions of Ramanis counsel about other women scribes who had also accused him of sexual misconduct The scribeturned BJP politician was crossexamined by senior advocate Rebecca John counsel for Ramani before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal in connection with his private criminal defamation complaint against RamaniIt is incorrect to suggest that I called Priya Ramani to come to my room It is wrong to suggest that she was hesitant or that I insisted I do not know whether it was the first job interview by Priya Ramani after her graduation I am not sure whether Priya Ramani was offered a job in the Asian Age newspaper in January 1994 in Delhi Office As it is a 25 years old matter and to the best of my knowledge she was working in Bombay office Akbar statedPriya Ramani had tweeted about Akbar allegedly behaving in an objectionable way in the hotel room Her counsel also put forth questions pertaining to other women scribes and their allegations against MJ Akbar The queries were strongly protested by senior advocate Geeta Luthra representing the former minister and she said that the questions were irrelevant as they were not related to the current case These are all part of my Ramanis defence as it shows his Akbars behaviour Ramanis counsel replied which led to a heated exchange between the two women senior lawyers of their respective partiesThe magistrate allowed Priya Ramanis lawyer to keep asking questions to Akbar and also agreed to record the objections of Akbar with regard to such queries During the crossexamination questions were put to him involving other women journalists including Ghazala Wahab Sonali Khullar Shroff Kadambari M Wade Majlie de Puy Kamp and Harinder Baweja who had accused Akbar of sexual misconduct Akbar confirmed that he had refuted the allegations levelled by Wahab in an articleIn response to another query Akbar said he could not recall whether Wade was working with him as it was a 20yearold matter Regarding allegations made by Kamp he said there was absolutely no question of harassment of the lady Kamp I recall there might have been a mention of some misunderstanding which was accepted Akbar said he did not recall whether Shroff worked with him and that he had not read any tweet written by her in regards to the sexual harassment The crossexamination of Akbar by Ramanis counsel remained inconclusive and would resume on on July 6Akbar who resigned as Union minister on October 17 last year filed a private criminal defamation complaint against Ramani after his name cropped up on social media as the MeToo campaign raged on in India Akbar was accused of sexual misconduct by Priya Ramani around 20 years ago when he was working as a journalist Akbar had earlier told the court that the allegations made in the article in Vogue and the subsequent tweets were defamatory on the face of it as the complainant had deposed them to be false and imaginary He had told the court in his statement that an immediate damage has been caused to him due to the scurrilous concocted and false allegations of sexual misconductMultiple women have come out with cases of alleged sexual harassment against him while he was working as a journalist Akbar has termed the allegations false fabricated and deeply distressing and said he was taking appropriate legal action against themWith inputs from PTITop News Stories Of The DayMumbai TikTok user arrested for dangerous bike stunts back in 2017Travel agent dupes south Mumbai travellers of Rs 308 lakhMumbai Crime Four nabbed for illegal soil excavation in GoraiMumbai crime Within four hours of murder cops nab 2 accusedShiv Sena corporator Salman Khan discuss Being Human for BMCCongress leaders discuss water issues with Mumbai civic chiefHow did you spend our money BMC chief asks the RailwaysMumbai Sion flyover to be shut for one monthCan we leave the fireflies alone pleaseAlert Mumbai Metro staff helps commuter get back lost wallet in four hoursMumbai lift mishap BDL lift has not had a licence for last 14 yearsPune Loud purring alerts cops to leopard cubs being smuggledBetween the real and the abstractThe future of Idli Manchurianmid day editorial Lets start making every drop of water countBritish Royal kids George Charlotte and Louis play in the woodsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates