Sir — This refers to news reports about the airing of a documentary on the Nirbhaya case, by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The uproar in the media, Parliament and among the public as well, is but natural. But the question arises: Who is responsible for this faux pas — the previous UPA Government, the present Government or the Tihar dispensation, which allowed the documentary director to interview the loathsome accused and now convict, MukeshIJ Undoubtedly, it was then Union Minister for Home Affairs Sushil Kumar Shinde and his junior RPN Singh, under whose patronage the Joint Secretary gave permission for the documentary to be made. But, instead of accepting their mistake, the duo has been in a denial mode. It is highly unlikely that a bureaucrat would have shown such alacrity in giving permission within 48 hours of the application being received, without any go-ahead from political seniors. The Director General of Tihar jail cannot be questioned over allowing the interview to happen within the jail premises, because the DG gave the nod after been shown the letter of permission from the senior bureaucracy.
The protagonists of the anti-Government view may be asked as to what they had expected from the present regime so as to stop its broadcast globallyIJ Except for lodging a vociferous complaint against the BBC, nothing comes in our domain to take action against a foreign firm on foreign soil.