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A petition has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking direction to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and Commissioner of Police Delhi to take appropriate legal action against Congress Ex President Rahul Gandhi for disclosing sensitive information about a rape victim and her family members by punlishing a photograph of her parents on his Twitter handle @RahulGandhi.

The plea filed by Makarand Suresh Mhadlekar states that by his conduct Gandhi has violated section 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 and section 23(2) of the POCSO Act, 2012 both of which mandate that the identity of a child victim of a crime shall not be disclosed.

The case relates to a nine year old Dalit girl who was allegedly gang raped, murdered and then cremated by her attackers on August 1, 2021 in South West Delhi leading to widespread protests.

The petition filed through Advocates Gautam Jha, Pankaj Kumar and Shweta Jha submits that in this regard the law is very well settled in a catena of judgements including in the case of Nipun Saxena v union of India wherein it was held by the Apex Court that the name, address, school or other particulars which may lead to the identification of the Child in conflict with law/victim cannot be disclosed in the media. No picture of such child, or any such particlura which can directly or indirectly disclose her identity can be published.

The petitioner has brought to the Court’s notice that Twitter Inc in face of public criticism has already removed the Tweet by Gandhi as per media reports which corroborates the case of the Petitioner about the illegality committed by Gandhi.

The petition is likely to be listed before the High Court on august 8.

Case Title: Makarand Suresh Mhadlekar vs Rahul Gandhi and Ors