Delhi Court Orders FIR Against Abhijit Iyer-Mitra Over Posts Targeting Newslaundry’s Manisha Pande

Delhi court has directed the police to register a First Information Report (FIR) against political commentator Abhijit Iyer-Mitra over objectionable social media posts targeting journalists from the digital news platform Newslaundry, including editorial director Manisha Pande.

The order was passed by Judicial Magistrate First Class Bhanu Pratap Singh of the Saket Courts after a complaint filed by Pande and several other women journalists. The complainants alleged that Iyer-Mitra had posted a series of abusive and derogatory remarks about them on the social media platform X.

In its order, the court observed that the tweets contained “sexually coloured remarks” and appeared to be intended to insult the modesty of the complainants. It held that the content prima facie disclosed cognisable offences under Sections 75(3) and 79 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deal with sexually coloured remarks and insulting the modesty of a woman.

The magistrate further stated that a police investigation was necessary because the alleged offences took place in cyberspace. The police have been asked to verify the account used to publish the posts and trace the electronic device from which the tweets were made.

According to the complaint, Iyer-Mitra allegedly referred to the journalists as “prostitutes” and described their workplace using derogatory language in multiple posts on X. The journalists have argued that the remarks were defamatory and caused harassment and reputational damage.

Separately, Pande and other journalists had earlier filed a defamation suit in the Delhi High Court, seeking a public apology and ₹2 crore in damages. In May 2025, the High Court had criticised the language used in the posts and recorded Iyer-Mitra’s undertaking to remove them. That civil case is still pending.