The Delhi High Court on Thursday (November 23) granted police time to respond to a plea seeking the registration of an FIR against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for allegedly revealing the identity of a Dalit girl who was raped and murdered in 2021 by posting a photo of him with her parents on social media platform X, news agency PTI reported.
The counsel for petitioner Makarand Suresh Mhadlekar contended that Gandhi had committed a serious offence but that the Delhi Police had yet to file an FIR, the report said.
According to the counsel for the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), there are no exceptions to the law protecting the identity of minor victims of sexual offences, and "police must register an FIR and take consequential action," as reported by PTI.
According to the report, a bench led by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan asked the Delhi Police to file a status report in 10 days, observing that it would proceed further after the police filed their response.
"Counsel for respondent no. 3 seeks and is permitted to file status report in 10 days," said the bench, which also included Justice Mini Pushkarna, and scheduled the matter for hearing on December 21, the report said further.
The report said that according to Gandhi's lawyer, Tarannum Cheema, "no formal notice of the PIL has yet been issued to the Congress leader".
According to X's lawyer, Gandhi's account was temporarily suspended following the post in question, and the post was later removed, it added.
However, the petitioner's counsel claimed that the social media platform was attempting to protect Gandhi and that the post was made unavailable only in India, implying that the offence was still ongoing, it added further.
In 2021, social activist Makarand Suresh Mhadlekar petitioned the high court for the filing of an FIR against Gandhi for allegedly revealing the identity of the minor Dalit girl who was raped and murdered that year by posting a photograph of her with her parents on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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The nine-year-old Dalit girl died on August 1, 2021, under suspicious circumstances, according to her parents, who claim she was raped, murdered, and cremated by a crematorium's priest in southwest Delhi's Old Nangal village.
The NCPCR stated in an affidavit filed in response to the petition that Gandhi's behaviour violated provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, which states explicitly 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 organisation also stated that "in light of the serious offence committed" by the Congress politician, it had forwarded the complaint to the Delhi Police and X in order for the post in question to be removed and appropriate action taken against his account.
Given that the tweet was withheld in India and has not been completely "removed," X's inaction was contributing to the victim's identity being revealed in violation of Indian laws, it added.
On October 5, 2021, a bench led by then-Chief Justice DN Patel issued notice to X, then Twitter, on the petition alleging Gandhi was "attempting to take political mileage out of the unfortunate incident".
At that point, the court refused to issue notice to other respondents, including Gandhi, the Delhi Police, and the NCPCR, in the public interest litigation (PIL). The petition also requested that NCPCR take appropriate legal action against Gandhi.