A Delhi court on Wednesday ordered that a first information report be registered against commentator Abhijit Iyer-Mitra for his social media posts in which he made sexually abusive remarks about the women employees of news outlet Newslaundry, Bar and Bench reported.
Iyer-Mitra could be charged under Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita sections pertaining to sexual harassment and insulting the modesty of a woman for the “contents of the tweets”, Judicial Magistrate First Class Bhanu Pratap Singh of the Saket Court was quoted as saying.
He also said that the “police investigation is necessary as the offence has been committed in cyber space”. Singh added that the probe will have to verify the user account on social media platform X and “trace and recover the computer source/electronic device from which the said tweets were published”.
Newslaundry’s Managing Editor Manisha Pande and other women journalists working for the news outlet had approached the court, stating that Iyer-Mitra had repeatedly used derogatory language and slurs to target them.
On August 13, the judge had directed the station house officer of Malviya Nagar Police Station to file an action taken report in the matter, Live Law reported. The police were asked whether any complaint was made and if any action was taken.
In November, the police were given a final opportunity to file the action taken report, which was eventually filed only on February 18, the legal news outlet reported.
The journalists then approached the court under Section 175 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which allows a magistrate to order a police investigation into cognizable cases.
The journalists have separately also approached the Delhi High Court with a defamation suit against Iyer-Mitra, seeking a public apology and Rs 2 crore in damages.
It was argued before the High Court that the remarks had “falsely and maliciously” targeted the news outlet’s women employees using derogatory language and slurs.
“They are sexist slurs aimed at humiliating women professionals,” they had said. “They directly attack their dignity and right to work without fear or sexual harassment.”
On May 21, Iyer-Mitra took down the remarks he had posted on social media between February and April after the High Court reprimanded him.
On February 26, the journalists told the High Court that they will not withdraw their suit and the matter is still pending before the High Court.
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