The Delhi High Court on January 24 disposed of a petition seeking registration of an FIR against Rahul Gandhi for revealing the identity of an alleged rape victim after taking note of the submissions by the Congress leader, the city police and social media platform X (formerly, Twitter).
Disclosing the identity of a rape victim constitutes an offence under Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code and is punishable with imprisonment up to two years and fine. The Delhi Police told the high court that an FIR was lodged against Mr. Gandhi for his social media post revealing the identity of alleged rape victim in 2021 and further investigation is underway.
The counsel for Mr. Gandhi also informed a bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet P.S. Arora that he has taken down the tweet which revealed the identity of a minor Dalit girl who was allegedly raped and murdered.
The counsel for social media platform X confirmed before the court that Mr. Gandhi deleted the tweet himself.
The court was hearing a 2021 petition by social activist Makarand Suresh Mhadlekar seeking registration of an FIR against Mr. Gandhi for revealing the identity of the victim by publishing a photograph with her parents on X, then called Twitter.
Noting the submissions of the parties, the High Court said the prayers in the petition stand satisfied and disposed of the plea.
