New Delhi: The Editors Guild of India on Wednesday suspended the memberships of former Union minister M.J. Akbar and Tarun Tejpal, former editor-in-chief of Tehelka over allegations of sexual misconduct. While Akbar has been a dormant member of the guild for years, Tejal is among its past presidents,According to Scroll.in, the guild said that it had asked its executive committee (EC) to advise on the action that must be taken against the two as well as senior journalist and former editor Gautam Adhikari. A majority of the executive committee members, the guild said in a statement, suggested suspending Akbar’s membership.“There was also consensus that Tejpal be suspended too, until the conclusion of his trial and the guild should write to Adhikari to seek his response.”The move comes weeks after the guild released an updated list of its members, which included the names of Akbar, Tejpal and Adhikari – all of whom have allegations of sexual harassment levelled against them – evoking calls from within the media body for their removal.Akbar, former Union minister of state for external affairs, resigned from his position in mid-October following multiple allegations of sexual harassment and molestation against him. While former Mint Lounge editor Priya Ramani was the first to call out Akbar – via a tweet – nearly 15 other women journalists have come on the record with harassment allegations against.Ghazala Wahab, now the executive editor of FORCE newsmagazine, wrote a detailed account on The Wire of her time at Asian Age, where she worked under Akbar, alleging that he molested her and harassed her repeatedly, until she could not take it any more and quit.Akbar, on his part, has denied the allegations and filed a defamation case against Ramani. According to PTI, the guild’s office bearers discussed the EC’s comments and concurred with the majority view that Akbar should be suspended from the guild till such time that the court case he has filed is concluded.The guild’s office bearers made a similar decision on the membership of Tejpal, who is accused of raping a junior colleague in 2013. In September of last year, a trial court had charged the former editor with rape, sexual harassment and wrongful restraint. The case is currently ongoing.On Adhikari’s membership, the guild decided to seek his response before taking a decision. In the midst of the raging #MeToo movement, Adhikari was accused by three women journalists of forcibly kissing them while he was the editor of DNA and Times of India. Following the allegations, Adhikari resigned from his post as senior fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington DC.