Updated
New Delhi, Mar 4 (IANS): Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said the government had taken necessary steps to stop the telecast of a documentary based on an interview with a convict in the December 16 Delhi gang-rape case.
In statements in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the home minister said the government condemns the December 16, 2012, incident and will not allow anyone to leverage such incidents for commercial use.
The minister said it came to their notice that the documentary was to be telecast on BBC 4 channel on March 8.
"The government has taken necessary legal action and obtained restraining order from the court on disseminating the contents of the film," he said.
"Our government condemns the incident of December 16, 2012, in the strongest possible terms and will not allow any attempt by any individual group or organisation to leverage such unfortunate incidents for commercial benefits," he said.
"The respect and dignity of women constitute a core value of our culture and tradition... our government remains fully committed to ensuring safety and dignity of women."
Rajnath Singh also said that he was personally hurt when he got to know about the documentary.
"I would like to make it clear. As soon as I got to know about this incident I was personally hurt. I immediately talked to the concerned authorities and gave the instruction that it should not be telecast in any condition, and (restraining) orders were taken from court last night that whatever has been telecast should not be released," he said.
The minister added that he had sought information regarding the conditions under which permission was given for the interview.
"In future, no one will be given permission to interview rapists," he told the Rajya Sabha.
"If needed, responsibility will be fixed (for granting permission)," Rajnath Singh said while making the statement in the Lok Sabha.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu also said that the government will try to stop the telecast of the documentary internationally as well.
The no-objection certificate to shoot the documentary featuring interview of convicted inmates in Tihar jail of cases related to atrocities against women was given by the ministry of home affairs on July 24, 2013, Singh said.
Thereafter permission was given by jail authorities to shoot the documentary, with condition of taking prior approval of jail authorities before publishing the research paper or for releasing documentary film which "is being made for totally social purposes without any commercial interest, as conveyed".
Other conditions included that only those inmates will be interviewed who give written consent, and that the complete unedited footage of the shoot in Tihar jail premises will be shown to jail authorities to ensure there was no breach of prison security.
"This documentary features one of the accused of the Nirbhaya case. It came to the notice of jail authorities that conditions have been violated. Hence a legal notice was issued to them on April 7, 2014," the home minister said.
The minister said the documentary makers were asked to return the unedited footage and also not to show the film as it violates the permission condition.
"The documentary film was shown to jail authorities where it was noticed that the documentary film depicts the comments of the convict which are highly derogatory to dignity of women," he said.
A physiotherapy student was raped and assaulted with an iron rod after she was tricked into boarding an unregistered private bus to go home after watching a movie with a male friend on December 16, 2013.
Her male companion was badly beaten up and could not come to her rescue when she was assaulted in the bus. The two were later dumped naked and bleeding on the roadside.
The woman was airlifted to a Singapore hospital for treatment where she died -- 13 days after the assault -- of the injuries inflicted upon her.
Mukesh Singh, one of the convicts in the gang rape case is featured in the interview.
In the documentary he said women who go out at night had only themselves to blame if they attracted the attention of molesters.
Mukhesh Singh, along with three other attackers, was convicted and sentenced to death last year.
Earlier Report
I&B Ministry issues advisory against broadcasting of Nirbhaya documentary
New Delhi, Mar 4 (Agencies) : The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting late on Tuesday night issued an advisory to all television channels not to broadcast the Nirbhaya documentary by British filmmaker Leslee Udwin, news agency ANI reported.
It was not immediately clear what the advisory stated, but at least one Indian news channel had said it would air the documentary on 8 March, International Womens Day.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Delhi Police registered an FIR in connection with the controversial interview of a convict in the 16 December gangrape case while also saying that it would move court to seek a restrain order its airing.
Although nobody has been named in the FIR, Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi maintained that the "main actor" is the person who has made these assertions and urged the media not to broadcast any assertion which transgresses the domain of law.
"This was a ghastly crime. One has to take into consideration that reporting of a crime does not transgress the domain of law and if that happens then the law will have to take its own course," he told reporters in New Delhi.
In the interview conducted by Udwin and BBC, Mukesh Singh, the driver of the bus in which the 23-year-old paramedical student was brutally gangraped by six men on 16 December, 2012, said women who went out at night had only themselves to blame if they attracted the attention of gangs of male molesters.
"A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy," he had said. Singh also said that had the girl and her friend not tried to fight back, the gang would not have inflicted the savage beating, which led to her death later.
The FIR was registered under IPC sections 505 (Statements conducing to public mischief), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) 505(1)(b) (With intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public), 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and section 66A of the IT Act (Punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service) at the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police.
Asked against whom the FIR has been registered, Bassi said, "We have registered an FIR on the basis of media reports and we will investigate and whosoever would will be found guilty we will take action against them."
Any assertion where the late victim is being maligned or where threat is being issued to women in general transgress the domain of law. We are going to move our court concerned for a restraint order, he added.
Udwin had claimed that she took permission from the then Director General of Tihar jail Vimla Mehra to interview Mukesh in prison for BBC.
Asked about this claims, Bassi said, "I am not aware of any permission. Even if it was given, it was given to remain in the domain of law. If any act transgresses the domain of law and particularly IPC, I am duty bound to take action and we have registered a case."