Shinde said, out of 86,000 Delhi policemen, nearly 7,000 policemen are deployed for VIP security. "Out of this, 2,500 policemen are deployed for security of Z plus category VIPs, and the rest for security of High Courts and vital installations", he added.
On the issue of giving death sentence to rapists, Shinde had a different take.
The Home Minister said: "All rape cases cannot be considered as rarest of rare cases. However the gruesome gangrape that took place in Delhi comes into the rarest of rare case category." (sab rapes rarest of rare nahin hotey. Jis tarah ki yeh ghrinaaspad ghatnaa hui, woh rarest of rare case hai)
Pressed by Rajat Sharma whether like his predecessor he would not recommend commuting death sentences to rapists as the former President Pratibha Patil did, Shinde said: "So long as I am in this chair, I will never recommend such a thing to the President."
On the previous cases of death sentences being commuted by the former President, Shinde said: "I do not know about those cases. At least it was not during my tenure. The only death sentence that I recommended (Ajmal Kasab) is known to all, and even the Washington Post has appreciated it."
Shinde said, in the Delhi gangrape case, the strongest sentence should be given, and there should be no mercy shown at all. He however clarified that the final verdict lay with the courts.
