Plea in Delhi High Court seeks prohibition on disclosure of rape accused's identity

The Delhi High Court recently issued notice to the Delhi government on a petition seeking a prohibition on the disclosure of the name and other identity details of accused in rape cases, without the court permission [DG vs. The State NCT Of Delhi & Ors]..Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma asked the State to file its response to the petition before August 8.“Issue notice. Ms. Nandita Rao, learned ASC accepts notice on behalf of State and seeks time to file Status Report,” the order said..The petition was moved by an accused in a rape case. According to media reports, the accused is a doctor at a premier medical institution and was accused of rape by a woman doctor in 2023 “on the pretext of false marriage.”The 54-year-old, who was chargesheeted, claimed that he married the victim in 2022. He was granted pre-arrest bail by the trial court in February this year on consideration of the fact that he was not arrested during the investigation. .He moved the Court seeking a declaration that printing or publishing his name or anything leading to disclosure of his identity during the inquiry, pre-charge stage and the trial without court’s permission is violative of his fundamental rights.He also sought general directions for framing of guidelines by the State for protection of “dignity, reputation and privacy” of the rape accused including the petitioner during the pendency of trial against them.“Issue a slew of appropriate guidelines, unless they are aptly framed by the respondent no. I, to protect the dignity, reputation and privacy of the persons accused of offence of rape or offences punishable under Sections 376, 376A, 376AB, 3768, 376C, 3760, 376DA, 376DB or 376E of 1.P.C., till the end of the trial and proven guilty,” one of the prayers said..He also demanded prohibition on printing or publishing the name of the accused in “print, electronic, social media, etc,” or any facts that may make identity of accused public before the conclusion of trial. He further urged that the trial court and the police officials should keep the particulars - containing identity details of accused - in the documents related to rape cases, masked or hidden from the public domain. Online articles disclosing his name should be taken down and there should be further prohibition on any discussion or reports in media that may be prejudicial to him, it was submitted..While issuing notice to the State, the Court also asked the petitioner to ensure that the word ‘lower court’ used in his plea is replaced with the word ‘trial court’.Let the petition be amended before the next date of hearing, it ordered. Pertinently, the name of the accused in the cause title of the case was anonymised..Advocates Milan Verma, Aman Sharma and Ujjwal Singh represented the petitioner Additional Standing Counsel Nandita Rao, Advocates Jasraj Singh Chhabra and Anuka Bachawat represented the StateAdvocate Rahul Sharma also represented a respondent[Read Order]