NEW DELHI: Another legal tussle reared its head for Rahul Gandhi on the day he was disqualified from membership of the Lok Sabha.
The Delhi HC on Friday sought the national child rights panel’s response to a plea seeking the Congress leader’s prosecution for allegedly revealing the identity of a nine-year-old Dalit girl allegedly raped and then killed in 2021 by posting on Twitter a photo with her parents.
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sachin Datta issued notice to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and granted it four weeks to file its stand. The matter will be heard next on July 27.
During the hearing, the counsel for NCPCR said it will file an affidavit after a formal notice. It had earlier told the court that despite Twitter’s claim about taking down Gandhi’s alleged tweet, the offence of making such a disclosure “survives”.
Makarand Suresh Mhadlekar, a social activist, had moved the court in 2021 claiming that by posting the photo, Gandhi had violated the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012. Both prohibit disclosure of the identity of minor victims of sexual offences.
On its part, Twitter had contended that “nothing survived” in the petition as the tweet in question had been “geo-blocked” and was not available in India. Initially, Gandhi’s entire account was suspended but it was later restored, Twitter had told the court. The girl had died under suspicious circumstances in August 2021. Her parents had alleged that she was raped, murdered and hurriedly cremated by a crematorium’s priest in Delhi.
Last October, the HC had issued notice to Twitter on the PIL but refused to do so to Gandhi, Delhi police and NCPCR. The plea also seeks appropriate NCPCR action against Gandhi.
The Delhi HC on Friday sought the national child rights panel’s response to a plea seeking the Congress leader’s prosecution for allegedly revealing the identity of a nine-year-old Dalit girl allegedly raped and then killed in 2021 by posting on Twitter a photo with her parents.
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sachin Datta issued notice to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and granted it four weeks to file its stand. The matter will be heard next on July 27.
During the hearing, the counsel for NCPCR said it will file an affidavit after a formal notice. It had earlier told the court that despite Twitter’s claim about taking down Gandhi’s alleged tweet, the offence of making such a disclosure “survives”.
Makarand Suresh Mhadlekar, a social activist, had moved the court in 2021 claiming that by posting the photo, Gandhi had violated the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012. Both prohibit disclosure of the identity of minor victims of sexual offences.
On its part, Twitter had contended that “nothing survived” in the petition as the tweet in question had been “geo-blocked” and was not available in India. Initially, Gandhi’s entire account was suspended but it was later restored, Twitter had told the court. The girl had died under suspicious circumstances in August 2021. Her parents had alleged that she was raped, murdered and hurriedly cremated by a crematorium’s priest in Delhi.
Last October, the HC had issued notice to Twitter on the PIL but refused to do so to Gandhi, Delhi police and NCPCR. The plea also seeks appropriate NCPCR action against Gandhi.
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The post is published through a syndicated feed and attributed to Times Of India
