Iyer-Mitra had accompanied sacked BJD leader Baijayant Panda on a controversial chopper ride over the Konark Sun Temple and made derogatory remarks about it

The Supreme Court, on Thursday (October 4), strongly reprimanded right-wing political commentator Abhijit Iyer-Mitra for his derogatory remarks against Odisha’s iconic Konark Sun Temple and declined his plea for relief from arrest.

The bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and KM Joseph said that it had seen  Iyer-Mitra’s remarks about the Konark Sun Temple, posted by him on Twitter last month. “Your comments incite religious feelings. How are you entitled to bail,” the bench told  Iyer-Mitra’s counsel. The counsel’s assertion that his client’s life was in danger drew a sharp riposte from Chief Justice Gogoi who said: “if your life is in danger, then what better place to stay than in jail? Your life will be secure.”

The Odisha-based journalist, known for his right-leaning and often provocative writings, had been arrested on September 20 in the national capital by the Odisha police. He was later granted bail by a Delhi court which had directed him to join the probe. The court had granted relief to  Iyer-Mitra  on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and one surety of the like amount on a plea moved by him, while directing him to join the investigation in the state by September 28.

The Odisha assembly had also adopted a privilege motion against  Iyer-Mitra for his alleged derogatory remarks. It may be recalled that, on September 15,  Iyer-Mitra along with former MP Baijayant Panda and journalist Aarti Tikoo Singh, had gone on a helicopter ride over the Sun Temple and the Puri Jagannath temple. From the chopper,  Iyer-Mitra had videographed the Sun Temple and used derogatory remarks against the sculptures.

He had tweeted: “My special message to you from the Konark temple expressing my utter disgust at this monumental conspiracy against the Hindu Civilisation.” He posted on Twitter a video shot in the temple premises in which he said: “I am in the famous Konark Temple premises. This is not a temple but a h****e where people are h*****g. See these sculptures…Women with women – men with animals. Can this be a holy place? Not at all. This is a conspiracy against Hindus by Muslims who want to keep us down. Jai Sriram. In our new Ram temple, such obscene sculptures will not be there.” (SIC)

The comments had triggered a political uproar in Odisha while  Iyer-Mitra scoffed at his critics, claiming that they “can’t tell satire from seriousness”. He also suggested that the political protests against him, primarily by the Biju Janata Dal legislators, were being orchestrated at the behest of chief minister Naveen Patnaik and that the real target was Panda, who had a famous falling out with the BJD chief some months earlier and was sacked by the party.

— India Legal Bureau