Book Rahul Gandhi in Juvenile Justice Act for his tweet in Purana Nangal rape cum murder case: Petition

New Delhi, 11 August (H.S): The petitioner in the Purana Nangal rape cum murder case said in the High court that Twitter should register a case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act and the POCSO Act for uploading the photo of his meeting with victim girl’s parents on Twitter. The petitioner Gautam Jha, in his petition further said that Rahul Gandhi should be imprisoned under section 23(2) of the POCSO Act in which there is a provision of minimum 6 months to maximum one year imprisonment, for disclosing the identity of the victim’s parents and sought registration of FIR under Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act against Rahul Gandhi.

The matter pertains to a nine-year-old Dalit girl who had come to drink water from a water cooler at a crematorium in Purana Nangal. She was raped and murdered. After this incident, Rahul Gandhi went to meet her family members. He posted a picture of the victim’s parents from his Twitter account.

Taking cognizance of this matter, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights had ordered the removal of Rahul Gandhi’s tweet on August 4. After this order, Twitter suspended the Twitter account of Rahul Gandhi. It has been said in the petition that Rahul Gandhi did this act as an attempt to take advantage of this incident. The petition has sought registration of an FIR against Rahul Gandhi.

Meanwhile, the Twitter has deleted the tweet of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi revealing the identity of victim’s parents. Twitter today informed the Delhi High Court about this. The next hearing into the matter is on September 27.

During the hearing today, advocate Sajjan Powaiya, appearing for Twitter, told a bench headed by Chief Justice DN Patel that Twitter has removed Rahul Gandhi’s tweet revealing the identity of the parents of the rape victim. After this, petitioner’s lawyer Gautam Jha said that Twitter should register an FIR against Rahul Gandhi, because that tweet has violated the law. The court asked the lawyer to submit the documents in this matter and till then the court is not issuing any notice in this concern.