#MeToo: MJ Akbar calls charges ‘baseless’, to take legal action

Union Minister MJ Akbar on Sunday described the allegations of sexual harassment against him as "false, baseless and wild" and said he will take appropriate legal action.

"Accusations without evidence have become a viral fever among some sections. Whatever be the case, now that I have returned (from abroad), my lawyers will look into these wild and baseless allegations in order to decide our future course of legal action," he said.

Suggesting an agenda, he asked why the allegations by women journalists he worked with had come up ahead of general elections.

In a statement released on Sunday afternoon, Akbar said the only office where he worked with Ghazala Wahab, the woman journalist who has accused him of sexual harassment, was that of The Asian Age. “A part of the editorial team then worked out of a small hall. At the time concerned, I had a very tiny cubicle, patched together by plywood and glass. Others had tables and chairs two feet away.”

“It is utterly bizarre to believe that anything could have happened in that tiny space, and, moreover, that no one else in the vicinity would come to know, in the midst of a working day. These allegations are false, motivated and baseless,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Congress sharpened its attack on Akbar, demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi spell out his stand on the issue.

“The PM’s silence is conspicuous. A PM who speaks on everything is silent on #MeToo. The silence raises questions on the dignity of the PM’s office. The country has been waiting for days for PM Modi’s to clear his stand on this,” said Congress leader Anand Sharma.

Akbar, a former journalist, returned from an official trip to Nigeria on Sunday and dodged a volley of questions from reporters at the Delhi airport. Around 2pm, Akbar left for a meeting with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.