New Delhi, Apr 24 A Delhi court has directed police to register an FIR against commentator Abhijit Iyer Mitra for allegedly making abusive remarks against nine women journalists of the news website, Newslaundry. Judicial Magistrate Bhanu Pratap Singh was hearing an application filed by journalist Manisha Pande on behalf of six complainants alleging that Mitra repeatedly made derogatory remarks in a series of posts and articles published on his social media handle.
In the April 22 order, the court said, "The court is of the view that a police investigation is necessary as the offence has been committed in cyberspace on platform ‘X’. Therefore, a police investigation is necessary to verify the user account on platform ‘X’ from which the said tweets were published."
According to the plea, Mitra allegedly posted derogatory tweets against the women journalists of Newslaundry.
They also placed on record a screenshot of a tweet dated April 28, 2025, containing the alleged post, along with another tweet dated February 8, 2025, in which the accused allegedly made sexually abusive remarks against the women journalists.
The court said the content qualified as sexually coloured remarks and prima facie appeared intended to insult the modesty of the complainant. “On perusal of the above said tweets, this court is of the view that the content posted by the accused qualifies as sexually coloured remarks and the same are prima facie intended to insult the modesty of the complainant,” the judge said.
The court held that the posts disclosed cognisable offences under BNS Sections 75(3) (sexual harassment) and 79 (outraging modesty).
“Police investigation is also necessary to trace and recover the computer source/electronic device from which the said tweets were published. This court is also of the view that the Action Taken Report, which was filed, is not satisfactory,” the court said.
Accordingly, the court directed the Station House Officer (SHO) of Malviya Nagar police station to register an FIR and file a compliance report by May 4.
