Delhi High Court Directs Police Probe into Rahul Gandhi's Tweet Revealing Rape-Murder Victim's Kin

Rahul Gandhi Tweet Case- In a significant development, the Delhi High Court has instructed the Delhi Police to furnish a status report within the next 10 days regarding a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The PIL alleges that Gandhi disclosed the identity of the relatives of a rape and murder victim through a tweet in 2021.

Justices Manmohan and Mini Pushkarna, presiding over the bench, have scheduled the matter for further consideration on December 21, 2023. The court emphasized its intent to review the status report before deciding on the course of action.

Advocate Swarupma Chaturvedi, representing the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), argued that the Delhi Police should register an FIR in the case. Despite the incident occurring nearly three years ago, no action has been taken, she asserted. Chaturvedi urged action under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the Juvenile Justice Act, and the Indian Penal Code.

On behalf of Rahul Gandhi, Advocate Tarannum Cheema contended that no formal notice had been issued to the Congress leader by the court.

Earlier, the NCPCR expressed its intention to support the petitioner, Makarand Suresh Mhadlekar, a self-proclaimed social activist. Mhadlekar approached the Delhi High Court seeking legal action against Gandhi for allegedly divulging sensitive information about a rape victim and her family on Twitter.

The court is currently reviewing the PIL, which calls for action against Rahul Gandhi, as well as Twitter and the Delhi Police. The petition asserts that Gandhi's tweet, which included a photograph of the victim's parents, violated the Juvenile Justice Act and POCSO Act, both of which prohibit the disclosure of a child victim's identity.

Sajan Poovayya, Senior Advocate representing Twitter, informed the court that the controversial tweet had been removed, and Rahul Gandhi's Twitter account was temporarily blocked. The court had previously issued notice to Twitter but refrained from doing so for other respondents.

Notably, the petitioner cited the Supreme Court's precedent in the case of Nipun Saxena v Union Of India, emphasizing the legal prohibition on disclosing the identity of child victims, especially in cases of sexual offenses.

In August 2021, Rahul Gandhi met with the family of a minor girl who had allegedly been raped, murdered, and cremated without parental consent at Delhi's Old Nangal crematorium. Gandhi's subsequent tweet about the meeting and the shared picture form the crux of the ongoing legal scrutiny.

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