The Delhi High Court on Thursday gave the police 10 days to submit their response to a plea seeking the registration of an FIR against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for allegedly sharing on microblogging platform X a picture of himself with parents of a minor rape and murder victim.
Mr. Gandhi had met parents of the nine-year-old girl on August 4, 2021. He then shared a picture of himself with the victim’s parents on X, formerly Twitter. The post was taken down on August 6 by the microblogging platform.
Makarand Suresh Mhadlekar, who claims to be a social activist, had in the same month moved the High Court seeking initiation of legal action against the Congress leader.
The plea said Mr. Gandhi’s post was in violation of Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 and Section 23(2) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) 2012, both of which mandate that the identity of a minor victim should not be disclosed.
During the hearing on Thursday, the counsel for the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) said there are no exceptions to the law protecting the identity of minor victims of sexual offences and the “police must register an FIR and take consequential action”.
The Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna asked the Delhi Police to file their response in 10 days. It listed the matter for hearing on December 21.
The counsel for X said Mr. Gandhi’s account was temporarily suspended following the post in question and subsequently the post was also taken down by it.
In an affidavit filed in response to the petition, the NCPCR said Mr. Gandhi’s conduct was in the violation of provisions of Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, which makes it explicitly clear that any information including family details should not be published in any form that could lead to the identification of any minor victim.
The child rights body also informed that “in view of the serious offence committed” by Mr. Gandhi, it had forwarded the complaint to the Delhi Police and X for the removal of the post in question and taking necessary action against his account.
