A Delhi court on Monday granted bail to journalist Priya Ramani on a personal bond of Rs 10,000 in connection with a defamation case filed against her by former Union minister MJ Akbar in October, ANI reported.

Ramani’s lawyer sought a personal exemption from appearing in court, which will be considered at the next hearing on April 10.

The Patiala House Court on January 29 had issued summons to Ramani as an accused. Akbar, who had filed the case after Ramani published a series of tweets containing allegations of sexual harassment against him, was not present in court on Monday.

Though nearly 20 women accused Akbar of sexual misconduct in October, the former minister has called all the allegations “wild”, “baseless” and a “sea of innuendo, speculation and abusive diatribe”. Akbar also hinted that there was a political motivation for the sexual harassment allegations as they had come up months before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He , however, had stepped down as the minister of state for external affairs after the allegations.