
Delhi HC seeks police reply on plea against Rahul Gandhi for ‘revealing’ rape victim’s identity
The Hindu
Delhi HC gives police 10 days to respond to plea seeking FIR against Rahul Gandhi for sharing pic of minor rape victim's parents on X. NCPCR says Rahul violated Juvenile Justice Act, 2015. X suspended his account & removed post. Matter listed for Dec 21.
The Delhi High Court on Thursday gave the police 10 days to submit their response to a plea seeking the registration of an FIR against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for allegedly sharing on microblogging platform X a picture of himself with parents of a minor rape and murder victim.
Mr. Gandhi had met parents of the nine-year-old girl on August 4, 2021. He then shared a picture of himself with the victim’s parents on X, formerly Twitter. The post was taken down on August 6 by the microblogging platform.
Makarand Suresh Mhadlekar, who claims to be a social activist, had in the same month moved the High Court seeking initiation of legal action against the Congress leader.
The plea said Mr. Gandhi’s post was in violation of Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 and Section 23(2) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) 2012, both of which mandate that the identity of a minor victim should not be disclosed.
During the hearing on Thursday, the counsel for the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) said there are no exceptions to the law protecting the identity of minor victims of sexual offences and the “police must register an FIR and take consequential action”.
The Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna asked the Delhi Police to file their response in 10 days. It listed the matter for hearing on December 21.
The counsel for X said Mr. Gandhi’s account was temporarily suspended following the post in question and subsequently the post was also taken down by it.

Former CM B.S. Yediyurappa had challenged the first information report registered on March 14, 2024, on the alleged incident that occurred on February 2, 2024, the chargesheet filed by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), and the February 28, 2025, order of taking cognisance of offences afresh by the trial court.