Headlines
Government serves legal notice to BBC over documentary
New Delhi, March 5
The government on Thursday
served legal notice to the BBC over its broadcast of a controversial
documentary on the December 16, 2012 gang rape, saying the broadcaster
"violated the contract on various fronts".
"A legal notice has
been served to the BBC. The notice says that they (BBC) had violated the
contract on various fronts," a home ministry official told IANS.
"They
were supposed to take final approval from the Tihar jail authorities on
the interview of the convicts but they did not do so, and according to
the contract signed with the BBC, they were barred to use the
documentary for commercial purpose, which they have violated too," he
said.
Earlier in the day, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the
government was "examining all aspects" related to the documentary and
would take action, if required.
Before airing the film in Britain
and some other countries, the BBC had assured the government that it
would not be aired in India. They then went ahead and showed it, and the
film was subsequently uploaded on YouTube.
"The BBC had planned
to air the film on March 8, but they showed it on March 4, the home
ministry said, wondering "what was the hurry?"
The documentary,
by British filmmaker Leslee Udwin, was based on the gang rape of a
23-year-old trainee physiotherapist, who was brutally assaulted on
December 16, 2012 on a moving bus in Delhi.