Delhi HC issues summons to Abhijit Iyer Mitra in defamation case by women scribes

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court issued summons to commentator Abhijit Iyer Mitra on Monday on a lawsuit by nine women journalists alleging defamation and asked him to be mindful of 'laxman rekha' while exercising his right to speech.

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav asked Mitra to give his written submissions in the case filed by journalists from media house Newslaundry and also sought the stand of social media platform X.

The plaintiffs alleged that Mitra used "derogatory terms and slurs" while making "defamatory, false, malicious and unsubstantiated allegations" on X.

Justice Kaurav noted that while the entire alleged defamatory content had been deleted by Mitra following certain remarks by the court last week, the plaintiffs sought further directions to restrain him.

"Having considered the nature of the submissions by the plaintiff, the court deems it appropriate to direct issuance of summons to the defendants," the court said.

"We are not restraining you (Mitra) (but) where laxman rekha lies, you must understand. So long as you continue to use your right to speech... when it becomes defamatory, the plaintiff will be at liberty to come back to court," the judge stated.

Advocates Bani Dikshit and Farman Ali, representing the plaintiffs, asserted that Mitra has shown "no remorse" for his posts.

Mitra's senior counsel Percival Billimoria said the content was not defamatory and was taken down in deference to the court's observations and the lawsuit should be dismissed.

The court's order on removal has been complied with, he said.

He also urged the court to order an investigation against the "most insidious" media platform.

The court, however, said, "If you want investigation against the channel, the remedy lies elsewhere".

The court said its earlier order on removal of the content was without prejudice to the rights of the parties but would continue to remain in force and asked the plaintiff to "come back" if similar objectionable content was posted in future.

In the lawsuit, the women journalists have sought an injunction, a written apology and Rs 2 crore in damages from Mitra. They claimed that Mitra launched a series of scathing and belligerent attacks against them in his posts.

On May 21, the court rapped Mitra for his allegedly abusive remarks and asked him to remove the posts within five hours.

The court had orally stated that a person who dared to use such "uncivilised language" in their posts should not be heard unless it was taken down.

The matter would be heard next in September.