[Live Updates] : MJ Akbar vs Priya Ramani Final Hearing

Luthra is now referring to articles in LiveMint and Washington Post.

There are two issues which come up from the articles:

1. She is not saying that only one line is attributed to him.

2. She questions why she was keeping quiet. 

Luthra : “It should be true, plus there should be good faith. But, we can show that the article is self-contradictory and there is no element of truth; it is spun out of lies. The question is where’s the sense of responsibility ?”

“Media’s biggest sexual predator” - Tweets made by Ramani.

Luthra says, “The first Defence is that you have to have some element of inquiry and that you are doing it after taking all the precautions. Here, a person is saying something without bothering to find out how it will affect him; Tarnishing his reputation with one brush just because that’s the bandwagon (referring to MeToo movement).”

Luthra, referring to Ramani’s tweet, says that it has 1931 retweets. She also states that it has been published and circulated and there was a clear reference to the article in Vogue magazine.

Luthra, extols the reputation of Akbar and comments on how his “serious knowledge and serious grasp” helped him reach his stature. She also states that “the country needs people like him.”

Luthra : The salacious and malicious statements made by Ramani are ex-facie defamatory. They have caused irreparable and great damage to Akbar’s reputation.

Luthra asks if this was her victory. She asserts that it was clearly not bonafide and was just to tarnish Akbar’s image. She also states that the most important aspect of a person’s life is their reputation. On that ground, the test must be extremely strict.

Luthra “Nothing can be justified. Suddenly there are four ulterior motives. If there was to be a motive of good faith or public interest, that could have been done. She is only damaging the reputation of the man who toiled so hard.”

I begin this piece with my MJ Akbar story.” Luthra asks, “what sense does anyone make? She attached the article to this. We have to see it from a layman’s viewpoint. The sense you get is that the man is bad, a predator and a pervert. And that the story is about MJ Akbar.”

Luthra reads out the dictionary meaning of “predator”. She says that when addressed to human beings, it means that they’re a wolf; that they are preying on others.