Abhijit Iyer Mitra submits affidavit before Odisha Assembly House Committee

Journalist Abhijit Iyer Mitra on Saturday deposed before the House Committee of Odisha assembly and submitted an affidavit over his alleged derogatory remarks against state legislators.

"Yes, in pursuance to the direction of the House Committee, Abhijit Iyer Mitra submitted his affidavit today. Committee will take the affidavit, his statement and the charge against him into consideration and submit its report to the House," Leader of Opposition and House Committee chairman Narasingha Mishra told ANI.

On October 23, Mitra was arrested by the Bhubaneswar Police in connection with the case filed at Saheed Nagar police station over his derogatory remarks against Odisha and Konark Sun Temple. He was taken into custody by Odisha police after he appeared before the House Committee of the Odisha Legislative Assembly.

Mitra is facing the allegation of making derogatory remarks on the Konark Sun Temple and Odisha. He was slated to appear before the House panel again on November 2. Though the journalist appeared before the committee yesterday, he could not submit the affidavit and sought time till today.

Earlier, the columnist had been summoned by the House Committee to appear before it on October 11, which he skipped.

The House Committee then issued another summon to the scribe to appear on October 23 at 11 am while directing the Director General of Police to issue the notice in the matter.

During a visit to the Konark Sun Temple on September 16, Mitra had posted a satirical video on Twitter, where he made derogatory remarks insulting Odisha, its culture, tradition and the lawmakers.

Mitra was arrested by the Odisha Police on September 20 from Delhi on charges of hurting religious sentiments. A Delhi court later granted him bail against a bond of Rs 1 lakh and directed him to join the investigation at the Konark police station.

He then moved the Supreme Court for bail, where his plea was quashed.

On October 11, Mitra wrote an apology letter to the House Committee and the Speaker of the Odisha assembly over his derogatory remarks and other offences he is accused of.