NEW DELHI: Former Union Minister M J Akbar told a Delhi court on Monday that he did not ask scribe Priya Ramani, who has accused him of sexual misconduct in #MeToo campaign, to see him in his hotel room in 1994 in connection with her alleged interview to join a newspaper of which he was the editor.
Akbar, who had resigned as minister on October 17 last year following the allegations levelled during the campaign, vehemently objected to the questions of Ramani’s counsel about other women scribes who had also accused him of sexual misconduct.
The scribe-turned BJP politician was being cross-examined by senior advocate Rebecca John, counsel for Ramani, before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal, in connection with his private criminal defamation complaint against Ramani.
“It 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 testified. (AGENCIES)
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