MoS External Affairs MJ Akbar has resigned after several women journalists accused him of sexual harassment.
New Delhi: M.J. Akbar resigned as the Minister of State for External Affairs Wednesday over charges of sexual harassment.
Several women journalists had accused Akbar of sexually harassing them when he was their editor.
“Since I have decided to seek justice in a court of law in my personal capacity, I deem it appropriate to step down from office and challenge false accusations levied against me, also in a personal capacity,” Akbar said in a statement.
He also expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for giving him the opportunity to serve the country.
On 15 October, Akbar had filed a criminal defamation case against journalist Priya Ramani after she and 13 other women journalists had accused him of sexual harassment.
Also read: MJ Akbar sues Priya Ramani for criminal defamation over sexual harassment allegations
On the previous day, after returning from Nigeria, Akbar had released a statement saying the allegations against him were “false and fabricated”. He also said Ramani’s accusations and a piece she wrote about their first encounter were a “figment of her imagination”.
Ramani, in an article for Vogue last year, had talked about an editor who had invited her to his hotel room in Mumbai for a job interview and offered her drinks, asked her to sit beside him on the bed and sung for her. Ramani, on 8 October this year, revealed that the editor was Akbar.
The #Metoo movement has been raging across the country over the past 10 days with several women calling out comedians, journalists, actors and men from all walks of life for sexually harassing them – at workplace or elsewhere.