Abhijit Iyer-Mitra Pardoned Off by Odisha Assembly For Derogatory Remarks on Legislators And Konark Sun Temple

Bhubaneswar, November 17: The Odisha assembly on Saturday passed a motion to forgive security analyst and columnist Abhijit Iyer-Mitra for his derogatory remarks against the Sun Temple and comments on legislators. Abhijit Iyer-Mitra had earlier tendered an unconditional apology to a House Committee of the Odisha assembly.

Abhijit had on September 16 posted a video on Twitter criticising the Konark temple. Later, he went on to make the alleged derogatory remarks against Odisha and its culture. Two FIRs were registered against him at Konark and Saheed Nagar police stations for his remarks. On October 23, he was arrested and booked under IPC Sections 294, 295A, 153A, 500, 506 and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act.

Last month, the Odisha Police arrested the columnist in New Delhi for his anti-Odisha comments. However, he was given conditional bail by a local court in Delhi. Later, the Supreme Court rejected his bail plea saying his comments 'incited religious sentiments'. Odisha Assembly Speaker Pradip Amat had on September 20 constituted a House Committee to probe the journalist's alleged derogatory remarks against the state and its lawmakers.

Iyer-Mitra had appeared before the House Committee and apologised. "Abhijit Iyer-Mitra admitted to the charges levelled against him and offered an unconditional apology for his 'stupidity'. He has been directed to depose before the Committee and submit an affidavit in this regard," leader of opposition Narasingh Mishra, who heads the House Committee, said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 17, 2018 08:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).