Lawyer M.L. Sharma Lawyer M.L. Sharma

The row over outrageous remarks made by lawyer M.L. Sharma against the December 16 gangrape victim and women in general in BBC documentarytook a new twist, with the controversial advocate claiming before the Supreme Court that whatever he and his client and death row convict Mukesh Singh said was as per the "written script given" by British filmmaker Leslee Udwin.

Under fire from the apex court, Bar Council of India and the Supreme Court Bar Association which have issued him a showcause notice, Sharma in his affidavit filed on Tuesday has distanced himself from the comments and called himself an "actor" who was only performing a "dialogue delivery". He also went to the extent of saying that "Mukesh's statements had been procured under inducement". He did not elaborate on the "inducement" aspect.

"The documentary film is based upon written script and dialogue written by its directors and producers. A character who plays any role in it cannot be liable for any dialogue of the film. Contents of the film are not statements of its actors. I am not responsible as it is only acting and dialogue delivery as an actor. If by seeing me as a villain or an actor someone is hurt, I am extremely sorry for that. But the director is responsible, not me," Sharma said.

"I never issued any statement against any one. It is the producer and the director, and their script which is responsible," he added. Sharma is seen in the documentary saying, "In our culture there is no place for a woman. Girls should not be allowed to go out after a particular hour like 9.30 pm or 10.30 pm, and that too with strangers? Incidents of rape are bound to happen if girls go out without proper security."

Regarding Mukesh, he said: "One of the characters in the film, played by Mukesh himself, has already filed a criminal case before the Delhi High Court to prosecute the director and producers of the film as it has been procured under inducement and based on written dialogue/script provided without disclosing true facts to him."

Speaking from jail, Singh is shown as saying: "Women are more responsible for rape than men. While being raped, she shouldn't fight back. She should just be silent and allow the rape. Then they'd have dropped her off after doing that to her, and only hit the boy."

The apex court is hearing a plea filed by the Supreme Court Women Lawyers Association seeking restriction on the entry of Sharma and A.P. Singh, another defence lawyer in the case.

