New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to examine a plea by the Jharkhand minister seeking to quash the criminal prosecution initiated after he allegedly revealed a minor rape survivor's identity.
The matter came up before a bench comprising justices B V Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma. The bench expressed its discontent with the conduct of the minister Irfan Ansari. “You want publicity for everything? It was only for publicity. Mandatory requirements under the law were not followed”, said the bench.
The bench said he could have either gone alone to meet the survivor at the hospital or taken along one person with him. The bench made it clear that it was not keen to entertain the petition. The petitioner’s counsel requested the court to allow him to withdraw the petition, which was allowed by the court.
Ansari moved the apex court challenging an order passed by the Jharkhand High Court in September last year, where it declined to set aside the November 2022, order of the Dumka court framing charges under the provisions of IPC and POCSO Act.
The petitioner and his supporters in October 2018, had visited a hospital to show solidarity with the victim and her family. It was alleged that the petitioner shared the victim’s name and photograph with the media.
