(Bloomberg) -- India’s junior foreign minister M.J. Akbar has resigned after more than a dozen women accused him of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior, the first politician to step down as the #MeToo movement continues to spread across India.

Akbar, who denied the sexual harassment allegations, submitted his resignation on Wednesday, according to a statement posted by Asian News International, an Indian news agency. He had recently filed a criminal defamation case against journalist Priya Ramani, who wrote about him in Vogue India. In his petition, Akbar said she “willfully, deliberately, intentionally and maliciously” defamed him.

"Since I have decided to seek justice in a court of law in my personal capacity, I deem it appropriate to step down from office and challenge false accusations levied against me, also in a personal capacity," ANI reported citing Akbar’s statement.

More than a dozen women, including a Bloomberg journalist based in London, have alleged that Akbar sexually harassed them or engaged in other inappropriate behavior decades ago during his time as an editor of several Indian publications.

India’s government had said it will establish a committee of senior judges to examine the flood of sexual harassment complaints against prominent members of the country’s Bollywood film industry, the media and a politician.

To contact the reporter on this story: Iain Marlow in New Delhi at imarlow1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Unni Krishnan

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