LI Network
Published on: December 22, 2023 at 14:18 IST
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi assured the Delhi High Court that he would delete a tweet containing sensitive details about a minor girl allegedly raped and murdered in 2021. This information came during a plea seeking the filing of an FIR against Gandhi for disclosing the identity of the nine-year-old victim.
Gandhi’s statement was made through his counsel during a hearing before a division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna. The court expressed its reluctance to issue a judicial order in the matter.
The Delhi Police’s counsel informed the court that the petition had become infructuous as all requested actions had been fulfilled.
The ongoing investigation into Gandhi’s actions revealed that the cause of the minor victim’s death was electrocution, with no scientific evidence supporting claims of rape and murder.
Advocate Mehmood Pracha, representing the victim’s family, urged the Court to refrain from openly discussing case details to protect the trial’s integrity.
Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for the petitioner, argued that regardless of the crime’s proof, revealing the minor’s identity constituted an offence under the POCSO Act.
The court directed the Delhi Police to submit a detailed status report on the investigation into Gandhi within four weeks, to be presented in a sealed cover. The next hearing is scheduled for January 24, 2024.
The case involves the suspicious death of a nine-year-old girl on August 1, 2021, with her parents alleging rape, murder, and cremation by a crematorium’s priest in Delhi’s Old Nangal village.
Social activist Makarand Suresh Mhadlekar filed a plea in 2021, claiming that Gandhi violated the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, which prohibit identifying sexually assaulted minors.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has urged the Delhi Police to register an FIR in the case.
The NCPCR’s affidavit highlighted that Twitter (referred to as X) withheld the post in India but failed to remove the tweet entirely, still accessible outside India. The NCPCR argued that X’s inaction contributes to disclosing the victim’s identity, violating the country’s laws.
