New Delhi, October 18
In a stern warning to those attempting to malign the image of political leaders by leveling false charges, the Supreme Court today dismissed a petition alleging rape by Rahul Gandhi in December 2006 and directed the petitioner, who was in the Samajwadi Party then, to pay Rs 5 lakh to the Congress leader.

A Bench comprising Justices BS Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar noted that the alleged victim, a 22-year-old woman, and her parents had denied that the crime had ever taken place. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Uttar Pradesh police had also found that there was no substance in the charge.

The SC directed another person, GP Singh who had filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court in connection with the allegation, to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the family of the alleged victim for dragging them to court and thereby defaming them, besides abusing the legal process.

The two petitioners “have made an attempt to hurt the reputation and image” of Rahul Gandhi by leveling false allegations and by abusing the process of the court, the SC held.

The Bench pointed out that the petitioners did not even know the names of the alleged victim and her mother and as such had given some other names in their petitions. The alleged victim’s father, a Congress activist, had made it clear that the names given by the petitioners were neither of his wife nor of his daughter, it noted.

Quoting a website report, Samrite had contended that Rahul Gandhi and six of his friends - two from Italy and four from Britain - had committed rape while the Congress leader was on a tour of his Parliamentary constituency, Amethi.