Delhi High Court rejects plea against Rahul Gandhi

The Delhi High Court has rejected a plea against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi alleging he had skipped SPG security and put himself in danger.

Holding that the petition against Rahul Gandhi was not maintainable, a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said “we are not the appropriate forum” to decide on security aspects. “We are not going to decide on security. For security also, we depend on the government. We rely on their assessment,” the Acting Chief Justice observed and dismissed the plea. It also said in case any action was required, the authorities were open to deal with it.

Centre’s standing counsel Anil Soni said the government was also concerned about Rahul Gandhi’s security, but skipping it was an “irresponsible” behaviour.

He submitted that if something happened to him, “we(government will be held responsible.”

The court was hearing a plea by Mumbai BJP spokesperson Tuhin A Sinha who had sought a direction to Gandhi and the Centre to ensure that the Congress leader does not violate the Special Protection Group Act and put himself in danger by giving a slip to the SPG. The petitioner also sought a direction to  Rahul Gandhi to submit an affidavit to the court that he would not travel without taking SPG cover. Rahul Gandhi’s car had come under attack from some stone-pelters when he was on a tour of flood-affected areas in Gujarat in early August.

The BJP leader had then reportedly said that Rahul Gandhi had not followed the security protocol even when he travelled abroad.