The Delhi High Court has taken strong exception to offensive social media posts made by commentator Abhijit Iyer Mitra against nine women journalists working with Newslaundry. The court refused to proceed with his defence in a defamation case until he agreed to remove the tweets.
The case was filed by Manisha Pande and eight other journalists, along with Newslaundry, after Iyer allegedly used sexually abusive and degrading terms for them on X (formerly Twitter). He reportedly referred to the women as "prostitutes" and their workplace as a "brothel".
"Can you defend these articles? These kinds of language, whatever may be the background, can this kind of language against women be permissible in society?... You must take down this. Then only we will hear you," observed Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav during the hearing.
Iyer's counsel, Advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai, argued that none of the tweets were directly aimed at the individual journalists. However, the judge disagreed and clarified that the tweets were clearly directed at the plaintiffs.
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The defence also claimed that Newslaundry is not a legitimate news platform and suggested that it receives income from questionable sources. Yet, the court refused to entertain these arguments during the current proceedings.
"Whatever the questionable income, today something which is not under challenge can't be looked into... Even if not attributable to anyone, such language in a public platform is not acceptable," the judge added.
Faced with possible suo moto FIR registration over the offensive remarks, Iyer agreed to delete the tweets immediately.
The court has scheduled the next hearing for the following week. The defamation suit seeks a public apology from Iyer along with ₹2 crore in damages. In the meantime, the plaintiffs are seeking immediate removal of all defamatory content from his X account.
The journalists involved in the case are Manisha Pande, Ishita Pradeep, Suhasini Biswas, Sumedha Mittal, Tista Roy Chowdhury, Tasneem Fatima, Priya Jain, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Priyali Dhingra.
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Their plea states that the tweets were “libellous, unfounded and malicious, with the aim to harm the dignity and reputation of the women.”
“No woman/person deserves to be dehumanised. No profession deserves to be weaponised as an insult. These remarks strip women—whether journalists or sex workers—of agency, identity, and respect,” the suit said.
According to the plaint, Iyer’s comments cannot be defended as free speech, criticism, satire, or fair commentary. The language used amounts to targeted abuse meant to harass and humiliate women professionals, and also attacks the Newslaundry platform itself.
The case has been filed through Advocates Uddhav Khanna and Dhruva Vig.
Title: Manisha Pande and Ors v. Abhijit Iyer Mitra and Anr.
