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.
Denne historien er fra March 8, 2021-utgaven av India Legal.
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Denne historien er fra March 8, 2021-utgaven av India Legal.
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PIL, Difficult To Swallow?
In a recent ruling, the Bombay High Court lamented the increasing number of frivolous public interest litigations being filed in courts and echoed the sentiments of the Supreme Court that such litigations are the bane of the judicial system. Is there any way to restrict their misuse?
Till Infertility Do Us Part...
The Calcutta High Court slammed a husband for initiating divorce proceedings due to his wife's infertility and asked him to be a pillar of support for her. Courts have often taken an empathetic view in such matters
IS THAT LEGAL?
Ignorance of law is no excuse. Here are answers to frequently asked queries regarding matters that affect us on a day-to-day basis
The Big Lie
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Flying into the Sunset
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Star Crossed
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Walkouts in the UK
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Myanmar's Misery
Two years after the military coup ousted the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the brutal crackdown by the junta on so-called \"insurgents\" and civilian protesters has reached a new level with the use of air strikes, a new and deadly tactic in the ongoing civil war.
AMERICA'S ANGST
From messy, divisive politics to a series of mass shootings, and now black officers brutally beating another black man to death as seen in bodycam videos, America's domestic convulsions are cause for serious introspection
JUSTICE LEAGUE
There are few judicial appointment procedures in the world that are completely bereft of the overarching presence of either the executive or the legislature, or both. In the end, the judge is left with all the powers vested in him/her by the constitution to uphold the rule of law, within an atmosphere of external influences
