This was a classic case of truth to power. The visuals said it all. Priya Ramani, accused of defaming a man of “stellar reputation” as his lawyers put it, arriving for the final hearing accompanied only by her lawyer Rebecca John. The man of stellar reputation showed up surrounded by a posse of armed guards and a battery of lawyers—98 of them as the court records showed.
The judgment delivered by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Pandey went beyond gender, and rightfully addressed the elephant in the courtroom—the abuse of power. While acquitting Ramani, the judiciary sent out a timely and heartening message, a massive booster dose to India’s stop-and-go #Metoo movement. It was also a clarion call for women to speak out regardless of the potential consequences.
I knew both the accuser and the accused during the course of my own journalistic career. Priya was fun and fearless, a journalist with an abiding sense of impartiality and objectivity. She wore her liberal heart on her sleeve and did not suffer fools or bigots gladly. Journalism has always been a male-dominated profession but somehow Pri ya’s presence and her gutsy, principled stand on issues that she felt strongly about, diluted that supremacy considerably. It was that aspect of her personality that led her to quit the media organisation we worked for over coverage she dee med prejudiced.
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