MJ Akbar

to fight allegations of defamation laid against me, as truth and the absolute truth is my only defence.”

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Editors Guild of India urged Akbar to 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 Guild said.

Akbar had stepped down as the minister of state for external affairs after Ramani and a number of other women accused him of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour at various stages of his journalistic career.

The BJP MP dismissed the allegations as “false and fabricated” and “malicious” and said he will be “taking appropriate legal action” and said these have “caused irreparable damage to my reputation and goodwill”.

A group of current and former journalists employed by The Asian Age, a newspaper that was once edited by Akbar issued a statement on Tuesday, urging the Patiala House court to accept their testimonies in the case.