The Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi Police to file a status report in response to a petition seeking the registration of an FIR against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The petition alleges that Gandhi disclosed the identity and sensitive details of a minor girl who was raped and murdered in 2021, along with her family, in a social media post.
A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna has given the police a 10-day deadline to file their response, with the matter set for a hearing on December 21. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) represented in court that no action has been taken against Gandhi for the incident that occurred in 2021, insisting that an FIR must be registered against the Congress leader.
The NCPCR had previously informed the court that a social media platform’s decision to not remove Gandhi’s tweet, which showed him meeting with the parents of the minor girl, contributes to disclosing her identity. Although the post was withheld in India following a notice from the NCPCR, it remained accessible outside India.
The plea, filed by social activist Makarand Suresh Mhadlekar, claims that by posting the photograph with the parents of the child victim, Gandhi violated the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. These acts prohibit the disclosure of the identity of minor victims of sexual offences.
The petition relies on the Supreme Court’s judgment in Nipun Saxena v. Union of India, which held that personal information and particulars of a victim or child in conflict with the law cannot be disclosed in the media. The plea states,
“Rape, particularly that of a minor girl, is one of the grossest crimes committed against children. Disclosure of such crimes to the outside world only adds to the agony of the family of the victim and the victim herself. By doing so, the Respondent No.1 has put the lives of the victim’s family members at high risk.”
The plea seeks directions for the NCPCR to take appropriate legal action against Gandhi and for the Delhi Police to register an FIR against him under relevant provisions of the POCSO Act. The case, titled Makarand Suresh Mhadlekar v. Rahul Gandhi & Ors, now awaits the Delhi Police’s status report as ordered by the Delhi High Court.
