Post outrage, film on Nirbhaya convict banned

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 4

The Delhi High Court today upheld the stay on telecast of a documentary based on an interview with a convict in the December 16 Nirbhaya gang-rape case. The court also banned the telecast of the documentary, titled “India’s Daughter” and shot inside Tihar Jail, on the internet. “The police can act if the film is aired,” the court said.

The Home Ministry said it planned to take legal action against British filmmaker Leslee Udwin for “violating” stipulated permission conditions. Home Minister Rajnath Singh today asked the Ministry of External Affairs and the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to ensure that the documentary is not aired abroad.

In Parliament, Rajnath said: “The government condemns the December 16, 2012, incident and will not allow anyone to leverage such incidents for commercial use.” He cited a clause in the MHA approval given in July 2013, saying prior approval of jail authorities is to be taken for publishing the research paper or for releasing the documentary film which is being made for purely social purposes without any commercial interest.

Sources said the permission was granted to do research and not broadcast the documentary on a commercial platform. In this case, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is set to telecast the documentary on March 8. However, the application to seek permission did not mention that it would be broadcast. The Ministry would review the existing provisions for allowing such shoots inside prisons to ensure that such incidents do not recur.

“The government has taken necessary legal action and obtained restraining order from the court on disseminating the contents of the film," Rajnath said. He said: “I was hurt when I got to know about the incident. I instructed the authorities that it should not be telecast under any condition, and (restraining) orders were taken from court last night that whatever has been telecast should not be released.”

“This documentary features one of the accused of the Nirbhaya rape 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, adding that the documentary makers were asked to return the unedited footage and also not to show the film as it violated the permission condition.

Meanwhile, BBC decided to go ahead with its telecast, saying that the film had handled the issue “responsibly”. The film will be telecast on BBC Four on Wednesday night at 10pm GMT in the UK (Thursday 3:30am IST). Originally, BBC had decided to show it on March 8, but decided to advance it, saying it will enable viewers to see this “incredibly powerful documentary at the earliest”. 

(With PTI inputs)