A Delhi court on Tuesday stayed a magistrate court’s order directing that a first information report be registered against commentator Abhijit Iyer-Mitra for his social media posts in which he made sexually abusive remarks about the women employees of news outlet Newslaundry, Bar and Bench reported.
Additional Sessions Judge Purshotam Pathak of the Saket court claimed that the words used by Iyer-Mitra were in the form of shayari, or poetry, and did not specifically mention any person.
“The meticulous interpretation of the words and sentences used can only be done after hearing both the parties on merits on the revision petition,” Bar and Bench quoted the court as saying.
The sessions judge passed the order afresh after the Delhi High Court had set aside his earlier order staying the direction for an FIR to be registered, observing that it was passed without any reasons.
In May, noting that the sessions court had stayed the registration of the FIR without explaining its rationale, the Delhi High Court had remanded the matter to the lower court and directed it to pass a fresh, reasoned order.
The High Court asked the Newslaundry journalists and Iyer-Mitra to appear before the sessions court on May 22. It directed the sessions court to decide the case within four weeks.
Newslaundry’s Managing Editor Manisha Pande and other women journalists working for the news outlet had approached the magistrate court, stating that Iyer-Mitra had repeatedly used derogatory language and slurs to target them.
On April 23, the magistrate court said that Iyer-Mitra could be charged under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections pertaining to sexual harassment and insulting the modesty of a woman for the contents of the tweets.
The judge also observed that the “police investigation is necessary as the offence has been committed in cyber space”. He ordered the registration of an FIR against Iyer-Mitra for offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to sexual harassment and word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman.
The journalists have separately also approached the Delhi High Court with a defamation suit against Iyer-Mitra, seeking a public apology and Rs 2 crore in damages.
Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.
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