The Delhi High Court on Monday issued summons to commentator Abhijit Iyer-Mitra in a defamation case filed by women employees of digital news outlet Newslaundry for making sexually abusive remarks about them, Live Law reported.

On May 21, Iyer-Mitra took down the remarks he had posted on social media between February and April after the High Court reprimanded him.

On Monday, the court briefly put the matter on hold to allow the plaintiffs’ lawyer to confirm whether they wanted to go ahead with the case. Once the lawyer said that they did, the court formally issued a summons to the commentator, Live Law said.

The court was hearing the defamation suit filed by nine employees of Newslaundry seeking a public apology and Rs 2 crore in damages from Iyer-Mitra, a columnist at pro-Bharatiya Janata Party outlet OpIndia.

The nine staff members that have filed the defamation plea are: Manisha Pande, Ishita Pradeep, Suhasini Biswas, Sumedha Mittal, Tista Roy Chowdhury, Tasneem Fatia, Priya Jain, Jayashree Arunachalam and Priyali Dhingra, Live Law said. Newslaundry is also one of the plaintiffs in the suit.

During the hearing on Monday, Senior Advocate Percival Billimoria, representing Iyer-Mitra, informed the court that the posts in question had been taken down.

However, Advocate Bani Dixit, appearing for the Newslaundry journalists, argued that there was "absolutely no remorse," adding that Iyer-Mitra was still engaging with the post and "writing poetically."

Billimoria also urged the court to dismiss the defamation suit with costs and called for an investigation into Newslaundry, Bar and Bench reported. However, the court made it clear that the matter at hand was limited to Iyer-Mitra’s social media posts. “We are only confined to the posts. If you have any other grievance, please take it up elsewhere,” the High Court said.

Billimoria also criticised the news platform, calling it “one of the most insidious news channels” and accused it of making comments about the Prime Minister's relationship with his Italian counterpart.

The court responded, “You must understand where the Laxman Rekha lies. When a post becomes defamatory, they have the right to return to court.”

During the earlier hearing, the Delhi High Court had refused to hear Iyer-Mitra until he took down the social media posts in question.

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav warned that he would order a first information report against Iyer-Mitra if he fails to remove the posts.

Case against Iyer-Mitra

In its suit, Newslaundry has said that Iyer-Mitra, through a series of social media posts, had “falsely and maliciously” targeted the news outlet’s women employees using derogatory language and slurs.

The complainants argued that Iyer-Mitra’s posts were made “knowingly and deliberately” with the intent to harm the dignity and reputation of the employees.

Iyer-Mitra’s comments are “not an aspect of free speech or journalistic criticism”, said the employees.

“They are sexist slurs aimed at humiliating women professionals,” they added. “They directly attack their dignity and right to work without fear or sexual harassment.”