Abhijit Iyer Mitra Gets Relief As Delhi Court Stays FIR Direction In Newslaundry Editor Manisha Pande Case
A Delhi court stayed the magistrate’s order for FIR registration against Abhijit Iyer Mitra while hearing his challenge in a case involving allegations of abusive social media posts against women journalists
Delhi court adjourned hearing in Newslaundry editor Manisha Pande’s plea seeking FIR against Abhijit Iyer Mitra over alleged abusive and sexually coloured remarks
A Delhi court on Monday stayed the order directing registration of an FIR against Abhijit Iyer Mitra in a complaint filed by Manisha Pande, who had alleged abusive and sexually coloured remarks against her and other women employees on social media.
It had also expressed dissatisfaction with the Action Taken Report (ATR) earlier filed by the police, noting that key tweets forming the basis of the complaint had not been considered. “Police investigation is necessary to verify the user account from which the tweets were published and to recover the computer source or electronic device used,” the court had said,
Interestingly, in November 2025, Abhijit Iyer-Mitra had approached the Delhi High Court seeking dismissal of a defamation suit filed against him by nine women employees of digital news platform Newslaundry. The plaintiffs have alleged that Mitra posted defamatory content targeting them on the social media platform X. Mitra had moved the Court under Order VII Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure, seeking rejection of the plaint at the preliminary stage. He has also filed an accompanying application seeking condonation of delay in filing the plea.
On September 10, 2025, the High Court had orally remarked that the recent tweets by Abhijit Iyer-Mitra were not defamatory while hearing a fresh petition filed by Newslaundry’s Managing Editor Manisha Pande and other women journalists.
Case Title: Abhijit Iyer Mitra v. State (NCT of Delhi) and Ors.
Bench: Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Purushottam Pathak
Hearing Date: May 4, 2026