The Delhi high court on Wednesday rapped commentator Abhijit Iyer Mitra for his alleged defamatory and abusive social media posts against nine women journalists of media house Newslaundry and asked him to remove the posts within five hours.
Mitra, who was arrested on October 23 this year and lodged in the high-security Jharpada jail in Bhubaneswar, was admitted to the Capital Hospital here late Saturday night, a hospital official said.
The Delhi High Court has issued summons to commentator Abhijit Iyer Mitra in a defamation lawsuit filed by nine women journalists from Newslaundry. The journalists allege that Mitra used "derogatory terms and slurs" while making "defamatory, false, malicious and unsubstantiated allegations" on X (formerly Twitter). While Mitra has deleted the allegedly defamatory content, the court has directed him to submit written submissions and has reminded him of the limits of free speech. The court has also asked the social media platform X to provide its stand on the matter.
The Delhi high court on Monday sent to the Supreme Court a batch of petitions seeking to recognise same-sex marriages under various laws.
The Delhi high court on Tuesday sought Twitter's response on a lawsuit filed by Abhijit Iyer Mitra, seeking restoration of his account on the website that has been "unilaterally banned" and made inaccessible to his followers.
'Faith, and the notion that it has been 'outraged', is used to justify the most outrageous, illiberal and regressive acts,' notes Shuma Raha.
The Centre Thursday told the Delhi high court it has set up an appellate mechanism to deal with grievances of the users arising from the decisions of social media platforms.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the plea to grant recognition to or permit registration of such marriages was "not permissible" for two reasons -- firstly, the petition was asking the court to legislate and secondly, any relief granted "would run contrary to various statutory provisions".
The plea argued that any changes such as inclusion of same sex marriage in the Customary Law are much easier, convenient and practical in marriages which are a type of contract between the partners as they are very remotely based on religion and more generic in nature.
Petitioner Abhijit Iyer Mitra and three others have contended in the petition that marriages between same sex couples are not possible despite the Supreme Court decriminalising consensual homosexual acts.
The court was informed that though the government's affidavit has been filed, it was not on record.
The statement comes in the midst of countrywide protests against the new citizenship law.
The Delhi High Court Tuesday directed the Centre to respond to a plea by LGBTQ couples who are seeking live streaming of proceedings on a batch of petitions to recognise same-sex marriages under the special, Hindu and foreign marriage laws on the ground that the matter is of great national and Constitutional importance.
One would not think that a Facebook status or a tweet could land you in jail, at least not in India -- the world's largest democracy. However, the reality is a lot more brutal in India, which has a shameful history of locking up its citizens for dissenting viewpoints. According to Mint, at least 50 people have been arrested through 2017 and 2018 for posts on social media. Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com presents some of the most prominent cases.
Four more people belonging to the gay and lesbian community urged the Delhi high court on Thursday to declare that marriages between any two persons irrespective of their sex be solemnised under the Special Marriage Act (SMA).
'India may well be a religious country, but that is precisely why we need to avoid criminalising blasphemy,' argues Mihir S Sharma.
'What is the problem in getting the UK to extradite our citizens?' asks Aakar Patel.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances