The Delhi High Court on May 22 issued notice to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on an NGO’s plea claiming its documentary ‘India: The Modi Question’ casts a slur on the reputation of India and makes false and defamatory imputations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian judiciary.
Apart from the national broadcaster of the United Kingdom, Justice Sachin Dutta also issued notice to BBC (India) on a petition by NGO ‘Justice On Trial’ against the documentary that relates to the 2002 Gujarat riots. The High Court has posted the case for further hearing on September 25.
The NGO, represented by senior advocate Harish Salve, contended that the BBC had released a two-episode news documentary titled ‘India: The Modi Question’. The two episodes are stated to have been published in January 2023.
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The NGO contended that the documentary contained content which “casts a slur on the reputation of the country and also makes false and defamatory imputations and insinuations against the Prime Minister of India, the Indian Judiciary and the Indian criminal justice system”. The plea said the conduct of the broadcaster was actionable and had made them liable to damages.
The Centre had earlier issued directions for blocking multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the BBC documentary. The Ministry of External Affairs had described the documentary as a “propaganda piece” that lacked objectivity and reflected a colonial mindset.
This month, a Delhi court had issued summons to the BBC, Wikipedia and Internet Archives on a defamation suit filed by BJP leader Binay Kumar Singh in relation to the documentary.
