Editor's Pick: A win for the #MeToo movement

The Hindu Newsletter - Newsletter - subject [The Hindu Logo]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Linkedin]( [Instagram]( Thursday 18, February 2021 [alt_text]( Editor's Pick A win for the #MeToo movement [alt_text]( (The Editor's Pick is a new newsletter from The Hindu that provides a snapshot of the most important stories from today's edition of our newspaper, along with a note from our top editors on why we chose to give prominence to these stories.) [Journalist Priya Ramani has been acquitted by a Delhi court]( in the criminal defamation case brought against her by [former Union Minister M.J. Akbar.]( The case pertains to the allegations of sexual harassment that Ms. Ramani had raised in an article that she wrote in The Vogue magazine in 2017 and in a tweet in 2018. These pertain to how she was harassed in 1993 by Mr. Akbar while he too was a journalist. [Ms. Ramani's allegations]( were among the most prominent in a slew of allegations and cases of sexual harassment that emerged in 2017 and 2018 in the [wake of the #MeToo movement.]( While Ms. Ramani had not identified her harasser in the 2017 article, she did so in the tweet. [Mr. Akbar had to resign as Union Minister of State for External Affairs]( in the wake of this and [several other egregious allegations of harassment]( against him. In his verdict, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Pandey said that a woman had the right to raise complaints of harassment on any platform, even decades after the incident. This is a major boost to the #MeToo movement in which women had used social media platforms to speak of harassment, and also of lack of justice from the established system, especially when the harassers held sway over the system. The court accepted [Ms. Ramani's defence of truth]( and that she was acting in good faith for the public good. These are exceptions to criminal defamation under Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code. Ms. Ramani's defence team led by lawyer Rebekkah John had corroborated her account with a witness, Niloufer Venkatraman. The court also rejected Mr. Akbar's argument that [he had a stellar reputation]( that had been [affected by Ms. Ramani's allegations](. The verdict observed that well-reputed men could be cruel to women in their personal lives. It added that "the right of reputation cannot be protected at the cost of the right of life and dignity of a woman as guaranteed in the Constitution." While Mr. Akbar could go on appeal in the High Court, this story gains importance from the boost that it gives to the #MeToo movement as well as the observations of the court. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. [Click here]( Try out The Hindu's daily news quiz Name the alleged key conspirator in the 2002 Godhra train burning case, who has been recently arrested after being on the run for 19 years 1. Haji Bila 2. Rafiq Bhatuk 3. Mohammed Kalota 4. Abdul Razak To find out the answer and play the full quiz, [click here]( The Big Story [#MeToo: Delhi court acquits Priya Ramani in M.J. Akbar's defamation case]( [alt_text]( From the Front Page [alt_text]( [Nikita Jacob gets 3-week transit anticipatory bail]( [alt_text]( [Forgave my father’s killers, says Rahul Gandhi]( From the Opinion Pages [alt_text]( [The poor state of the Indian state]( [alt_text]( [Money vs. happiness]( Today's Editorials [Slow on safety: On Madhya Prades](h bus accident [An ambiguous levy: On tax on PF]( incomes You are receiving this email because you are a user of [thehindu.com]( If you do not wish to receive any such emails, [unsubscribe here.](mailto:rm-0bfh4h47bf2f90kaup33rtbysa8hkay@newsalert.thehindu.com?subject=Unsubscribe&body=You will be unsubscribed from our mailing list.) To ensure you continue to receive emails from The Hindu in your inbox, please add newsletters.th@newsalert.thehindu.com to your contact. If you can't see the mailer, please [click here.]( Group Sites [The Hindu]( | [இந்து தமிழ் திசை]( | [Business Line]( | [BL on Campus]( | [Sportstar]( | [Frontline]( | [The Hindu Centre]( | [Images]( | [roofandfloor]( | [Classifieds]( Copyright @ 2021 ,THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. [About Us]( | [Contact Us]( | [Digital Subscription](