The Delhi High Court has issued summons to commentator Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, along with media platforms The Pamphlet, Law Beat, The Jaipur Dialogues, and The Sunday Guardian, following a legal suit by Saurav Das, spokesperson for the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). The legal action arises from allegations of unauthorized disclosure of Das’ residential address and personal information.
Justice Sachin Datta presided over the initial hearing on Monday, also addressing a plea for an interim injunction. The case is scheduled for further consideration in two weeks.
During the proceedings, it was revealed that tweets on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) that disclosed Das’ address have been removed. The court inquired about the status of these links, to which X’s counsel confirmed their deactivation. This confirmation was recorded in the court’s order.
Das is seeking damages exceeding ₹2 crore, citing violations of privacy. He is also pursuing permanent injunctions against Iyer-Mitra, The Pamphlet, Law Beat, The Jaipur Dialogues, and The Sunday Guardian to prevent them from further disseminating his personal information. The injunctions include directives to remove and disable access to content revealing his address.
Furthermore, Das has requested that X Corp and Google remove content disclosing his address and take measures to prevent its further spread. According to the suit, Das has resided in a rented room in Greater Kailash-I since early 2025. He accuses representatives from The Pamphlet of trespassing and recording footage of his residence, which was then shared on X, garnering over 2.1 million views.
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Das claims that Iyer-Mitra disclosed his address during a Law Beat program, incorrectly stating the rent to be around ₹7 lakh per month. The complaint alleges that despite notifying the defendants of the security risks, the dissemination of his information persisted.
Senior Advocate Akhil Sibal, representing Das, argued that the publication of the videos compromises Das’ safety, emphasizing that the content removal by X should be maintained. He highlighted the established legal right to privacy, referencing Press Council of India norms that protect personal details of public figures.
In response, Senior Advocate Percival Billimoria, representing Iyer-Mitra, cited the Puttaswamy judgment, arguing that there is no privacy right under the circumstances described.
The court ordered the defendants to submit their responses within 10 days and scheduled the next hearing for September 14.
