The recent interview of a December 16 gangrape convict by the BBC has brought in focus the role of the then Director General of Tihar Jail and present Special Commissioner of Police (Admin) Vimla Mehra.
Mehra, a 1978-batch IPS officer of Arunachal, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) took over as DG Tihar in August 2012 and as per protocol, the permission to interview Mukesh Singh was granted by the Tihar administration led by Mehra following the consent of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Sources said the three types of shoots were conducted by the BBC Channel Four — one documentary of over 60 minutes (which shows Mukesh Singh’s interview) and the other two on the workings of jail management and other prisons. The then DG of Tihar, however, faltered because she did not check the original footages of the shoot before it went for the final print.
The Pioneer is in possession of the copy of the letter permitting the Tihar DG to allow the documentary filmmaker for interviewing the gangrape convict on the Tihar premises. The MHA’s letter, dated July 24, 2013, issued by Joint Secretary (CS) Suresh Kumar said: “The Ministry has no objection to the proposal provided informed written consent is obtained from each of the convicts interviewed.”
According to a former Tihar DG, who did not wish to be named, the role of everyone should be checked by the investigators. “As the case was still in court…the interview of convicts or accused should be taken with the permission of the court only. How can the Government give them (filmmaker) the permission or clearance for interviewing the accused or convict,” said the former DG.
The Delhi Police has also asked social networking sites like Google, Twitter and Facebook not to give any contents related to the contents of the documentary.