#MeToo: Union Minister MJ Akbar moves court against journalist Priya Ramani

Union minister MJ Akbar, who was accused of sexual harassment amid the raging #MeToo campaign against male predators, on Monday filed a private criminal defamation complaint against journalist Priya Ramani in the Patiala House Court in Delhi.

Ramani recently accused the minister of state for external affairs of sexual misconduct as the #MeToo campaign took India by storm.

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Reacting to the accusations and allegations against him, Akbar had issued a statement on Sunday and said that he would take legal action against the accusers.

Taking Ramani to court, the former editor of a newspaper accused her of "wilfully, deliberately, intentionally and malaciously" defaming him and has sought her prosecution under the penal provision on defamation.

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"Ms Priya Ramani began this campaign a year ago with a magazine article. She did not however name me as she knew it was an incorrect story. When asked recently why she had not named me, she replied, in a Tweet: “Never named him because he didn't 'do' anything."

"If I didn't do anything, where and what is the story? There is no story. This was admitted at the very inception. But a sea of innuendo, speculation and abusive diatribe has been built around something that never happened. Some are total, unsubstantiated hearsay; others confirm, on the record, that I didn’t do anything...," Akbar had said in the statement he issued on Sunday.