Delhi HC to hear plea seeking directions to NCPCR for action against Rahul Gandhi over Tweet

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New Delhi: A plea has been filed in Delhi High Court seeking directions to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) to take necessary legal action against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his tweet allegedly disclosing the identity of Delhi Cantonment rape victim’s family.

According to news agency ANI, the petition also seeks directions to Delhi Police to register an FIR against Rahul Gandhi under section of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

The petitioner Makarand Suresh Mhadlekar, who claims to be a social activist, has approached Delhi High Court seeking its intervention for appropriate legal action against the Congress leader for allegedly disclosing sensitive information about a rape victim and her family members by "publishing a photograph of her parents on his Twitter handle". 

The petition, filed through Advocates Gautam Jha, Shweta Jha and Pankaj, states that Rahul Gandhi has violated section 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 and section 23(2) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, both of which mandate that the identity of a child victim of a crime shall not be disclosed.

The plea said that the law in this regard is very well-settled in a catena of judgments including in the case of Nipun Saxena vs Union Of India wherein it was held by the Supreme 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 particular which can directly or indirectly disclose her identity, can be published. A child who is not in conflict with the law but is a victim of an offence especially a sexual offence needs this protection even more," the plea read.

The plea is likely to come for hearing on August 11 before the concerned bench of Delhi High Court. 

On Wednesday morning, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met the family of the minor girl who was allegedly raped, murdered and cremated without her parents` consent in Delhi`s Old Nangal crematorium.

(With inputs from news agency ANI)