HC junks plea for impounding BBC documentary on Dec 16 gangrape

New Delhi, August 28

Delhi High Court dismissed a plea of one of the December 16 gangrape case convict seeking seizure of BBC documentary 'India's Daughter' on Friday.

The court said the stay on the documentary precludes its screening and is sufficient to prevent it from being aired.

"I am entirely in agreement with the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) that the petition is premature at this stage as the relief pressed by the petitioner can be raised at the appropriate time before a Metropolitan Magistrate," the court said.

The convict wanted the court to order its seizure, citing that the documentary would be detrimental to his appeal against his conviction and sentence in the Supreme Court. 

He claimed that the director of the documentary had committed a serious crime against the petitioner by damaging his reputation.

The bench however refused to pass any such order and said that the issues could be raised before the trial court.

On the night of December 16, 2012, Ram Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, Mukesh and a juvenile had gangraped a girl in a bus and brutally assaulted her male friend. The victim died on December 29, 2012 at a Singapore hospital.

The juvenile accused was on August 31, 2013 convicted and sentenced to three years in a reformation home, while the four others were handed down death penalty.

British filmmaker Leslee Udwin from BBC had produced a documentary on the incident and the public outcry and protests that followed it. The documentary, called ‘India’s daughter’ also contained snippets of interview with Mukesh conducted in 2013 inside the Tihar jail, where the convict is currently lodged.

The documentary created a much furore. Its telecast was later stayed. PTI