The High Court of Delhi, on Wednesday, May 21, asked commentator Abhijit Iyer Mitra and social media platform X Corp (formerly Twitter) to take down his defamatory tweets against Newslaundry, an independent digital news platform, and the women journalists associated with it. Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav, while passing the order, slammed Abhijit’s language in the tweets, saying that the case would be heard further only after the posts are taken down.
“These kinds of languages, whatever may be the background, can these against women be permissible in the society?” asked the judge. Questioning why the posts are not being removed, the judge said, “I am passing a judicial order, I am restraining you, this is not permissible under law, and then I'll order an FIR against you.”
Nine women journalists from the Newslaundry and the media house itself had filed a civil defamation suit in the High Court of Delhi against Abhijit Iyer on May 14, seeking a permanent injunction and over Rs 2 crore in damages for publishing "defamatory, false, malicious, and unsubstantiated allegations" on X.
The suit also names X as a party, alleging that the platform was extensively used by Abhijit to publish and circulate the defamatory content.
The plaintiffs, including Newslaundry's Managing Editor Manisha Pande and Executive Editor Jayashree Arunachalam, contend that Abhijit repeatedly used derogatory terms such as "prostitute" to describe the women journalists and referred to Newslaundry as a "brothel" in a series of posts. The suit also highlights "poems" posted by Abhijit, which the plaintiffs say undermined their dignity.
Advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai, appearing on behalf of Abhijit, argued that the posts were not attributed to the journalists individually. He also alleged that Newslaundry was not a news organisation, and that they had “questionable sources of income”.
“It's in the context of an organisation referred to as a brothel. Because they take this finding from questionable sources,” he argued and contended that his was a “fair comment”.
To this, the court asked: “Does he understand the definition of brothel? Someone who takes financial assistance from questionable sources, can it be called a brothel?”
The plaintiffs further pointed out that Abhijit’s posts targeted Newslaundry's subscribers, allegedly calling them the "biggest prostitutes". The journalists describe it as an attempt to cause business loss and discourage readership. They added that these "libelous, unfounded, and misconceived" statements were made "knowingly and deliberately, calculated to harm the dignity and reputation of the plaintiffs".
They submitted that the defamatory posts, which are allegedly still accessible on X, have caused "great reputational harm" and "enormous mental trauma, harassment and embarrassment" to the concerned journalists. They also argue that such allegations could negatively impact Newslaundry's business prospects and its ability to attract talent.
The plaintiffs sought urgent injunctive relief to prevent further publication of similar content and to have the existing posts removed. They also demanded a prominent written apology from Abhijit on his social media pages and damages amounting to Rs 2 crore with 18% per annum interest.