Priya Ramani had created allegation against MJ Akbar in the wake of #MeToo movement in 2018. (File)New Delhi: Former Union minister MJ Akbar told a Delhi court on Thursday that yet another criminal case can be created out against journalist Priya Ramani for deleting her Twitter account, which had “primary evidence”.MJ Akbar created the submission just before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar by means of senior advocate Geeta Luthra in the course of the final hearing in a criminal complaint filed by him against Ms Ramani for allegedly defaming him by accusing him of sexual misconduct decades ago, when he was a journalist.Ms Ramani had created allegation of sexual misconduct against Akbar in the wake of #MeToo movement in 2018.Ms Luthra told the court that Ms Ramani deleted her Twitter account along with all its tweets deliberately to subserve the trigger of justice.”This (is a) strange argument that this Twitter account (Ramani’s), the court didn’t tell me (Ramani) to save so I didn’t. How can one take a defense like this?” she stated.”She knows a criminal complaint is pending against her. These are all tweets. They were all primary evidence. Can she destroy evidence? Another criminal case can be made out,” Ms Luthra told the court.The court asked no matter whether the account was deleted just before the cross-examination, to which Ms Luthra replied in affirmative.”I would have wanted to cross examine her. This whole thing is destruction of evidence. Suppose the court wanted to see it. Fact is that everything has been deliberately destroyed to subserve the cause of justice,” she stated.At this, the judge asked if MJ Akbar had filed any complaint for destruction of proof.”We haven” but we want the court to take cognizance. I’ve brought it to the notice of the court,” mS Luthra stated.She stated the deletion spoke volume about Ms Ramani’s conduct.”I would have put many twitter comments to her but couldn’t. It is incorrect to say that Twitter account is not evidence. It is relevant. It is the account from which allegations were made against me,” she stated, adding that tampering of proof was really serious.Ms Luthra additional termed ms Ramani’s story of alleged sexual misconduct as “fiction” and stated there was no compulsion on her to join Asian Age, the paper Akbar was the editor of, but she did.”There is no denial that there were other publication houses. There was no compulsion on her to join Asain Age but she did. She found Asian Age a good opportunity,” she stated.”I bring all this which shows that the incident is something that she made up. It something which is not in the natural sequence of things, This story is a work of fiction,” she stated.She additional stated that if Ms Ramani had grievance, there was a mechanism in spot due to the fact 1860 to address such difficulties.”These lies have left me defending my reputation in the last few years. It is unpardonable. I wonder at what kind of cost has it come to you. You have damaged a person’s 50 years of reputation,” she stated.She added, “She says in 2017 it was one anonymous article. I say a fictitious article. Had it been a truth, it would have been done in 2017 itself. It now smells of malice. Malice is not necessary to be proved in fact. It has to be seen in effect.””Incident she doesn’t prove, date she doesn’t prove, nothing she proves and burden is on her,” she stated, adding that there was no basis of calling MJ Akbar what she did.Ms Luthra alleged that Ms Ramani’s allegations had been an act to intentionally malign and that there was not a whisper of great faith and public interest.”She said there was no overt physical attack. Here also she is self contradictory. She said it was sarcasm then takes alternate defense. Sarcasm is also defamation. Defense is not legally consistent,” the lawyer stated.The court will additional hear the matter on January 23.MJ Akbar had filed the criminal defamation complaint against Ms Ramani in October 15, 2018.He resigned as Union minister on October 17, 2018.MJ Akbar had earlier told the court that Ms Ramani had defamed him by calling him with adjectives such as ”media’s greatest predator” that harmed his reputation.He has denied all the allegations of sexual harassment against the ladies who came forward in the course of #MeToo campaign against him.Over 20 ladies came up with accounts of the alleged sexual harassment by Akbar when they had been working as journalists beneath him.He termed the allegations “false, fabricated and deeply distressing” and stated he was taking suitable legal action against them.
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