A Bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh of the Delhi High Court has sought Twitter's reply on a Writ Petition seeking registration of FIR against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for revealing the identity of a 9-year-old Dalit girl who was allegedly raped and murdered in Delhi, by publishing a photograph with her parents on Twitter.

The Bench, however, clarified that it is not issuing notice to other respondents, including Rahul Gandhi.

Senior Advocate Sajan Poovayya, representing Twitter, told the Court that Rahul Gandhi's account was suspended due to the controversial tweet and the tweet was removed after it was found to be in violation of Twitter's policy.
Senior Advocate R S Cheema
appeared for Rahul Gandhi.

Petitioner Makarand Suresh Mhadlekar, a social activist, has alleged in the petition that by posting the photograph with the parents of the child victim, Rahul Gandhi violated the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, which prohibit the disclosure of the identity of minor victims of sexual offences.

The Petitioner, represented by Advocates Gautam Jha and Pankaj Kumar, alleged that Rahul Gandhi was attempting to take political mileage out of the unfortunate incident.

The Writ Petition also seeks initiation of action against Rahul Gandhi by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. The matter has been listed for further hearing on November 30.



With PTI inputs