The Delhi High Court issued a notice to the BBC on 22 May, saying that its documentary ‘India: The Modi Question’ cast “a slur” on the Indian PM.
Justice Sachin Datta issued the notice on a petition by Gujarat-based NGO ‘Justice On Trial’ (JOT), which alleged that the documentary’s content was actionable and the broadcaster is liable for damages.
Delhi HC sends BBC notice in 10K crore suit on Modi documentary https://t.co/XGuUl1CTUH
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) May 23, 2023
Overview
The documentary “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,” JOT contended.
Senior Advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the NGO, submitted that the documentary had defamed the country and the judiciary. The plea stated that the facts aired in the documentary do not showcase journalistic neutrality and “appear to be only with a view to casting a slur upon the reputation of the Indian State and its institutions.”
JOT has filed the suit as an indigent person and sought exemption from filing the fee of the suit. In this case, the fee would have been 100 crore rupees (~$12 million) — one per cent of the 10,000-crore-rupee (~$1.2 billion) damages claimed by the NGO. The Delhi High Court will further hear the case in September.
BBC ordered to Delhi High Court over Modi documentary https://t.co/6m4NsJZUM6
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 22, 2023
The Controversial Documentary
BBC released the documentary in question in the UK in January as a two-episode series examining the tensions between the Indian PM and the country’s Muslim minority, with its first part shedding light on Modi’s role in the 2002 Gujarat Riots.
The central government had invoked “emergency powers” to ban the documentary upon its release. Calling the documentary a “propaganda piece,” the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said it reflects the BBC’s “bias, lack of objectivity, and continuing colonial mindset”.
Earlier this month, a Delhi court issued a summons to the BBC, Wikimedia Foundation, and Internet Archives in a defamation suit, which sought to restrain it from publishing the documentary, filed by BJP leader Binay Kumar Singh.
The documentary is set to be screened at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra while Modi is on a three-day visit to the nation.