On 24th January (Wednesday), the Delhi High Court dismissed a petition that sought registration of an FIR against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for revealing the identity of an alleged rape victim in 2021. The court rejected the plea after taking note of the submissions made by the Congress leader, the city police and social media platform X.
The bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora were hearing a 2021 petition by social activist Makarand Suresh Mhadlekar. He had sought an FIR against Gandhi in his case.
Taking into account the arguments presented by the parties, the high court observed that the requests in the petition had been already addressed and resolved, thereby disposing of the plea. There were three requests made in the plea, action by NCPCR, deletion of the tweet, and and FIR by the police. Now it has been confirmed that all three have already been done. NCPCR had lodged a complaint against Rahul Gandhi, after which the Delhi Police registered an FIR in September 2021, which was confirmed by the police in the court.
Meanwhile defending Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, his counsel informed the bench that Gandhi has taken down the tweet which revealed the identity of a minor Dalit girl who was allegedly raped and murdered. Following his counsel’s assertion, the advocate representing social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) confirmed before the court that Gandhi deleted the tweet himself. Earlier the tweet was withheld in India by the platform.
Thus, all the pleas made in the petition have been fulfilled, making the petition infructuous. Therefore, the court dismissed the petition. However, the deletion of the post doesn’t secure relief for the Congress leader as the case for revealing the identity of the alleged rape victim still stands and the call for his arrest has been gaining steam.
The dismissal of the plea has not brought any relief for the Congress leader as the actions sought in the plea had already been taken, that is, an FIR had already been lodged in 2021 against the Congress leader. The police investigation following the FIR is still on, and it does not stop just because Rahul Gandhi deleted the tweet.
Although the tweet has been deleted, the fact remains that Rahul Gandhi had revealed the identity of a minor rape victim, which is an offence. Notably, disclosing the identity of a rape victim is an offence under Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code. It is punishable with imprisonment up to two years and a fine. Moreover, the fact that the Congress MP agreed to delete the tweet can be considered a confession of guilt.
Regarding the development, NCPCR chief Priyank Kanungo elaborated on the details of the case and noted that they had asked Delhi police to file an FIR in the case way back in 2021. He also expressed hope that Delhi Police will soon arrest the accused in the case, Rahul Gandhi, for revealing the identity of parents of an alleged rape victim.
#WATCH दिल्ली: NCPCR प्रमुख प्रियांक कानूनगो ने कहा, "2021 में एक नाबालिग की रेप और हत्या की घटना हुई थी। उस वक्त इसे सनसनीखेज बनाने के लिए राहुल गांधी ने बच्ची के माता-पिता के साथ वीडियो शूट किया था और उन्हें अपने सोशल मीडिया अकाउंट पर पोस्ट किया था। ऐसा करके उन्होंने POCSO… pic.twitter.com/ipSqwi77q1
— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) January 24, 2024
Speaking with ANI, Kanungo said, “There was an incident of rape and murder of a minor in 2021. At that time, to sensationalise it, Rahul Gandhi had shot a video with the girl’s parents and had posted it on social media account. By doing so he violated the provisions of the POCSO Act and Juvenile Justice Act. We had asked Delhi Police to register an FIR against him. Today, during the hearing of a petition in this case, Delhi Police told the court that they filed an FIR against Rahul Gandhi in September 2021. We hope that Delhi Police will arrest the accused soon …”
Furthermore, the Delhi High Court had earlier asked Delhi Police to submit its status report within 10 days about this case.
The case pertains to a social media post uploaded in August 2021. Back then, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met the family of the minor girl who was allegedly raped, murdered, and cremated without her parents’ consent in Delhi’s Old Nangal crematorium. After meeting with the family, he assured his support to the family. Rahul Gandhi also tweeted about his meeting and shared a picture of him with the victim’s parents on Twitter. As the identification of the parents could lead to the identification of the alleged rape victim it is barred to share such details to avoid stigmatisation of the victim.
Click here, to read why the Delhi Police’s bizarre argument earlier in the trial proceeding drew criticism.
