The lawyer defending Nirbhaya rape case accused Mukesh Singh on Saturday denied receiving a show cause notice from the Bar Council of India to explain his comments made during an interview for the BBC for its controversial and banned documentary titled "India's Daughter".
M.L. Sharma told ANI, "We have not got the notice from the Bar Council of India as yet. The court has placed a stay on the release of the documentary, and we have not committed any contempt of court, or can we be accused of misconduct."
He further went on to say that those people who had seen the documentary and spread the word about it, were in contempt of the court, as there was a ban on the documentary.
"They have violated the court order. I have only spoken for the safety and security of women. Ladies should be protected from society. Fighting for a female is not crime. I will fight for the rights of women. We should respect our courts. We are certainly going to take action," he said
Earlier, the Bar Council of India had said that it had issued notices to two defence lawyers for their remarks in a documentary "India's Daughter", depicting the brutal gang-rape and murder of a paramedic student in Delhi in 2012, that has sparked massive outrage and condemnation.
In its notice, the council said that it had given lawyers M L Sharma and A K Singh three weeks' time to explain why disciplinary action should not be initiated against them for their remarks.
In the film - banned in India and telecast by the BBC on Wednesday night, Sharma has, at one point, said that "there is no place for women in Indian culture. Both A K Singh and he made other outrageous comments too.
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Sharma and Singh are representing four men, who are on death row for gang-raping and killing a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus in Delhi in December 2012. The woman came to be known as "Nirbhaya" or fearless, and became a symbol for India's fight to check crimes against women.
The lawyers' comments triggered a massive outpouring of criticism and demands of punishment for the duo on social media with fellow lawyers even calling for a revocation of their licenses.
Sharma claims that his comments have been misconstrued and misrepresented, and alleged that filmmaker Leslee Udwin, used only a part of what he said.
"She (Udwin) took my interview for 10 days, showed only one line," he was quoted, as saying by a television channel.
A K Singh claimed people who were opposed to him were "biased".
He said he had received supportive calls from many people.