The Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights on Tuesday issued notices to Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Twitter for 'disclosing' the identity of two minor boys who were victims of assault.
Amol Jadhav, a city resident, had filed a complaint against Gandhi and Twitter.
Commission president Pravin Ghuge said he has sought a reply from both as to why action should not be taken against them under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
As per law, identity of minor victims cannot be disclosed.
The commission has sought replies from Gandhi and Twitter within 10 days.
"I issued notices to Gandhi and Twitter as they have disclosed the identity of victims," Ghuge told reporters.
A video purportedly showing two minor boys being stripped and beaten up for swimming in a well belonging to a farmer in Jalgaon district of Maharashtra had gone viral last week.
Gandhi had tweeted about the incident tagging the video, and blamed the BJP and RSS for rising atrocities against backward classes. In the tweet, which was posted on June 15 and has been retweeted over 9,000 times, Gandhi identified the two victims as dalits.
Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam, however, dismissed the notice, calling it nonsensical.
"The notice is nothing but bakwaas (nonsense). The notice should have been sent to the Maharashtra chief minister who has failed to protect the rights and dignity of children. Rahul Gandhi simply highlighted this sorry state of affairs," he said.