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MJ Akbar’s defamation suit: Court takes cognisance, to hear on Oct 31

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MJ Akbar’s defamation suit: Court takes cognisance, to hear on Oct 31

The Patiala House Court in New Delhi today (Thursday, October 18), took cognisance of the criminal defamation complaint filed by BJP MP and former minister MJ Akbar against Priya Ramani, the first woman journalist to publicly accuse him of sexual misconduct, fixing October 31 for examining the complaint and recording witnesses’ statements.

The court said that it has taken cognisance of the offence under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code.

Akbar, a former journalist of stature, resigned as the union minister of state for external affairs on Wednesday (October 17) amid a barrage of allegations levelled by women scribes about his alleged sexual, moral and ethical misconduct after Ramani related her experience when she worked at The Asian Age newspaper over 20 years ago when Akbar was the editor.

Following Ramani’s claims against Akbar, over 15 women journalists have so far raised similar allegations against him. Akbar is now a BJP MP in Rajya Sabha.

Akbar has dismissed all these allegations as being baseless and politically motivated. Earlier this week, he had hired senior advocate Raian Karanjawala and his firm to represent him in the criminal defamation suit against Ramani.

Calling his resignation a ‘vindication,’ Ramani had said she was ready for the legal battle. Twenty women journalists have urged the court to also consider their testimonies, and to be called as witnesses.

On Thursday, as the case came up for hearing in the court of ACMM Samar Vishal, senior advocate Geeta Luthra appeared on behalf of Akbar and argued that the baseless comments made by Ramani in an article and then on Twitter had tarnished the reputation of her client.

Luthra alleged that the tweets, retweeted by many, have caused irreparable damage to the reputation of the former minister. Akbar has resigned due to these allegations and they show the damage caused to his reputation, his lawyer argued.

To establish Akbar’s credentials before the court, Luthra talked about his 40 year stint as a highly regarded journalist and editor, a former Lok Sabha member and a union minister till just a day ago.

She asserted that Ramani’s allegations, which in turn provoked similar charges being levelled by a slew of other women scribes, had done irreparable damage to Akbar’s image and had not just diminished his reputation but made it vanish altogether.

ACMM Samar Vishal heard the submissions made by Luthra and said that he was taking cognizance of the defamation suit under section 500 of the Indian Penal Code. The court then fixed October 31, 12 noon, as the next date and time of hearing in the case when it will conduct an examination of the plea filed by Akbar.

While Akbar wasn’t present in court today, he will have to appear in person to record pre-summoning evidence.

The witnesses to be examined on the next date of hearing are Joyeeta Basu, Veenu Sandal, Syed Habibur Rehman, Tapan Chaki, Sunil Gujral, Manjal Ali etc.

Akbar had filed the case against Ramani on Monday, seeking her prosecution under Sections 499 and 500 of the IPC for defamation.

Meanwhile, the Editors Guild of India and a large number of eminent citizens like senior advocate Indira Jaising and common people – men and women alike – who have voiced their support for the #MeToo campaign have urged Akbar to withdraw the defamation suit against Ramani.

The Editors Guild of India came out in support of the 20 women journalists who have named journalist-turned-politician MJ Akbar in the growing #MeToo movement, accusing him of sexual harassment. The top body of editors representing the media industry expressed its concern over Akbar’s defamation case against one of the journalists, Priya Ramani, and said he should withdraw the case.

“We hope that Mr Akbar will also display the grace to withdraw the criminal defamation case he has filed against one of these complainants. While Mr Akbar is entitled to all legal instruments available to a citizen to seek vindication, it would be paradoxical for a veteran editor to employ the instrument of criminal defamation,” the Editors Guild said in a statement.

The Editors Guild assured its full support to the other women journalists in case he decides to sue them. “If any of them were to need legal advice or assistance, the Guild will do the best it can to help and also appeal to eminent lawyers to represent them pro bono,” Editors Guild said.MJ Akbar’s defamation suit: Court takes cognisance, to hear on Oct 31

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Hardeep Singh Puri says Sunita Kejriwal is preparing to hold Delhi CM post like Rabri Devi

The Union Minister was speaking to the media during the inauguration of Delhi BJP’s election office along with leaders including Delhi BJP Chief Virendra Sachdeva and Bansuri Swaraj.

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Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday compared Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, hinting that she may be gearing up to take on her husband’s post. The Union Minister was speaking to the media during the inauguration of Delhi BJP’s election office.

The BJP leader further took a dig at Delhi Chief Minister for forming an alliance with the most corrupt party against whom they had started an anti-corruption movement with social activist Anna Hazare. The minister made the statement in response to a question regarding Sunita Kejriwal, who earlier today launched a whatsapp campaign advocating for support for her husband, who is in ED custody in connection with the Excise policy case.

In a video Sunita Kejriwal said her husband has challenged the most corrupt and dictatorial forces in the country and asked people to support her husband through their prayers and blessings. She issued 2 WhatsApp numbers 8297324624 and 9700297002 through which people can send their blessings, prayers or any other messages to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo and she will communicate those to him.

She said yesterday Kejriwal had presented his side in the court, and the entire country heard it. She requested the people to listen to it if they had not listened till now. She added whatever Kejriwal had said in front of the court required a lot of courage. She said her husband is a true patriot. She requested the people to participate in the Kejriwal ko Aashirwad campaign.

BJP leader Manoj Tiwari also took a dig at Aam Aami Party asking why only Kejriwal’s wife is coming out in his support, and not the people of Delhi. He said the Honorable Justice of High Court said they cannot stop Arvind Kejriwals’ arrest that they are surprised why he hasn’t been arrested yet?

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Lok Sabha elections: INDIA bloc in Bihar seals seat-sharing deal, Congress get 9 seats, RJD 26

Purnea and Katihar, currently held by the Janata Dal (United), had emerged as the sticking point in seat-sharing talks between the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress for the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.

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The Opposition INDIA bloc sealed the seat-sharing deal in Bihar for 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Mahagathbandhan’s largest constituent, RJD will field its candidates from 26 seats, including Purnea and Hajipur, while the Congress will contest on nine seats, including Kishanganj and Patna Sahib. Meanwhile, the Left will fight on five seats.

Purnea and Katihar, currently held by the Janata Dal (United), had emerged as the sticking point in seat-sharing talks between the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress for the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.

Reportedly, the Congress has been made to give up the Purnea Lok Sabha seat, which recent entrant Pappu Yadav, husband of Rajya Sabha MP Ranjeet Ranjan, was hoping to contest, mentioning that he had received assurance of Congress ticket from Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.

The seat will be contested by RJD, which recently gave the party ticket to JD(U) turncoat Bima Bharti, but stopped short of announcing it formally. The INDIA bloc seat-sharing announcement comes a day after the filing of nomination papers for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls was over. The RJD has fielded its candidates in all four seats going to elections in the first phase.

Earlier, Tejashwi Yadav attended an INDIA bloc meeting regarding Bihar’s seat-sharing formula at Congress leader Mukul Wasnik’s residence and said that the RJD, the Congress and the Left will fight the Lok Sabha elections together in Bihar. He added that the INDIA bloc partners have agreed verbally on the seat-sharing arrangement and all the constituents are getting a respectable deal. Tejashwi Yadav’s remarks came amid reports of disquiet in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance in Bihar over seat sharing.

In the previous Lok Sabha elections, the National Democratic Alliance, including the BJP, JD(U) and LJP won 39 seats. The first phase of the Lok Sabha elections is scheduled for April 19.

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Tax terrorism has to stop, says Congress after Income Tax Department issues fresh Rs 1,700 crore notice

The Congress has accused the BJP of squeezing it financially and of using tax authorities against it ahead of Lok Sabha elections beginning April 19.

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Ahead of the Lok Sabha election, the Congress’ financial woes worsened once again with the Income Tax Department issuing a fresh Rs 1,700 crore notice. The tax department issued the notice due to discrepancies in tax returns. 

The fresh notice is for assessment years 2017-18 to 2020-21 and includes penalty and interest. This comes a day after the Delhi High Court dismissed the party’s petition challenging the tax notices. 

The opposition party is already facing a funds crunch after Income Tax authorities imposed a penalty of Rs 200 crore and froze its funds. Furthermore, the party has not received any relief from the High Court in the case and is likely to approach the Supreme Court. The Congress has accused the BJP of squeezing it financially and of using tax authorities against it ahead of Lok Sabha elections beginning April 19.

Addressing a press conference, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said that the notices are being sent to cripple the party financially. Calling the action as tax terrorism, Jairam Ramesh said that this attack on Congress has to stop.

Earlier in February, the Income Tax department had found fault in the party’s tax returns and demanded Rs 200 crore. Subsequently, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) had asked the party to pay the dues and froze their accounts. The Congress stated the tax tribunal’s order freezing its funds was an attack on democracy as the order came just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

AICC general secretary K C Venugopal stated that this is a deliberate attempt by the Narendra Modi-led to bankrupt the Congress ahead of elections. He mentioned that the timing of the penalty notice, following the Delhi High Court’s dismissal of Congress petitions challenging tax reassessment proceedings, reeks of political vendetta.

He underlined that while political parties are typically exempt from taxes, this penalty is allegedly due to delayed filing of returns. He asserted that it is a blatant move by the Modi government to cripple the Congress financially, especially during the elections. He further asserted that in response to the notice, the Congress plans to stage a nationwide protest, condemning BJP’s exploitation of central agencies to target opposition parties. 

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