SC issues notice to Rahul, others in 'rape case'

New Delhi, April 6
Congress Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi will perhaps face the toughest question of his political career as the Supreme Court today issued notice to Rahul Gandhi and five others on a petition filed by former MLA Kishor Samrite challenging Allahabad High Court order in an alleged gang rape case.
Apex court Bench of justices V S Sirpurkar and T S Thakur while staying the HC order of Rs 50 lakh fine and a CBI probe against Samrite, gave Rahul, Uttar Pradesh government and others four weeks to file their replies.
Hailing from Madhya Pradesh, Samrite, had sought to find out victim Sukanya and her family, which he alleged have been missing since the infamous rape incident, as was reported in website www.indybay.org and other portals.
According to reports, on December 3, 2006, Rahul Gandhi along with seven friends including four foreigners (two each from Italy and Britain) had “gang raped Sukanya Devi” in a VIP guest house in Amethi. Sukanya later with her mother went to the Amethi police station and even approached the National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Women to seek justice but to no avail. However, the victim and her parents were untraceable from January 4, 2007.
Samrite had alleged that Sukanaya and her parents were held captive by Rahul and sought directions to the police for producing them in court. Videographer Dhrupad and a cameraman from a news channel, who later recorded statement of Sukanya are also reported missing.
In the High Court, a girl did present herself in the court and said her actual name was Kirti Singh and that Balram Singh and (Sumitra alias Mohini Devi) Sushila are her parents and their identification was done by Amethi police station in-charge.
Kirti told the court that neither she nor her parents were under illegal detention of any person nor has she any information regarding the news item being displayed by the
website.
However, Samrite maintains that the girl and her parents were “implants”. UP director general of police Karam Veer Singh in an affidavit in the High Court “admits that particulars of the girl produced in the Court only partially matches with Sukanya”.
“No documentary evidence was provided by Kirti and her parents in the High Court to prove their identity,” says Samrite.
On the basis of deposition made by girl, the high court imposed Rs 50 lakh fine on Samrite and ordered a CBI probe. Samrite moved the apex court.
However, after the Supreme Court issued notice on Wednesday, Samrite was called to the CBI headquarters by DIG Rajiv Sharma. The former MLA, in the apex court, has alleged that the agency is “hounding him” and “trying to arrest him by exercising harassing tactics upon the old and aged parents”.
Lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, a Congress leader, had sent a legal notice to the website, Hinduunity.org. Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said he would “check the facts”.