Shinde in denial on giving permission for Nirbhaya documentary shoot

Former home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Wednesday categorically denied granting permission to British filmmaker Leslee Udwin for interviewing Nirbhaya gang-rape convict Mukesh Singh in Delhi's Tihar Jail.

"I had not given any permission to make a documentary on the Nirbhaya case. It was not given by me. I observed the conversation in Parliament, Mr. Rajnath Singh has not mentioned my name. It must have been given by somebody, I do not know," Shinde said.

Making a statement in the Rajya Sabha earlier in the day, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh accused the former UPA regime of giving permission to shoot the documentary inside the Tihar Jail.

Rajnath said that a restraining order has been obtained from a local court to prevent the telecast of the documentary. He assured the House that no such permission would be granted in the future and a report has been sought from Tihar Jail where the rapist was incarcerated.

The documentary titled 'India's Daughter', includes an interview of Mukesh Singh, who is among the six men accused of gang-raping a 23-year-old girl on December 16, 2012 on board a moving bus.