SC Denies Columnist Protection from Arrest for Remark on Konark

Columnist Abhijit-Iyer Mitra was arrested on 20 September for a video he had tweeted about the Konark Temple.

Abhijit-Iyer Mitra was arrested in Delhi for a brief period of time on 20 September and granted bail on a bond of Rs 1 lakh.  

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Columnist and security affairs analyst Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, on Thursday 4 October, was denied protection from arrest by the Supreme Court over his alleged objectionable remarks against Odisha's popular Konark Sun Temple.

Iyer was arrested in Delhi for a brief period of time on 20 September and granted bail on a bond of Rs 1 lakh.  

Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, while announcing the judgment, was quoted by NDTV as saying, "You are inciting religious faith of the country. It isn't a case for bail."

Iyer’s counsel then argued that his client’s life is under threat, to which CJI Gogoi said that if that is the case, there is no safer place than the jail for his client.

Abhijit Iyer-Mitra was arrested by the Odisha police in relation to a case registered against him over a tweet shared on 16 September. In a video he tweeted on Saturday, 15 September, Iyer-Mitra was seen criticising the 13th century temple, in what seems to be a satirical video.

He tweeted a video where he is seen making fun of the caricatures on the walls of the Konark temple. Iyer was asked to join the investigations from 28 September.

The video received heavy backlash instantly after it was shared, with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Congress demanding action against the journalist for the ‘derogatory’ remarks towards the community.

(With inputs from FirstPost and NDTV.)