Delhi HC issues fresh notice to BBC on its controversial documentary 

Delhi High Court issued a fresh notice to the BBC on a plea by an NGO claiming its documentary “India: The Modi Question” casts a slur on the country’s reputation

The Delhi High Court on September 25 issued a fresh notice to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on a plea by an NGO claiming its documentary “India: The Modi Question” casts a slur on the country’s reputation and makes false and defamatory imputations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian judiciary.

Justice Sachin Datta also issued fresh notice to BBC (India) on the plea filed by the Gujarat-based NGO Justice On Trial. The High Court listed the matter for further hearing on December 15.

The NGO contented that BBC (India) has released a two-episode documentary titled “India: The Modi Question”. The two episodes are stated to have been published in January 2023. The documentary relates to the 2002 Gujarat riots.

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 lacks objectivity and reflects a colonial mindset.

The NGO contended that the documentary contains 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.

On May 22, the court had issued notice to the defendants on the plea.

Counsel for the NGO informed the court that notices were issued to BBC (UK) and BBC (India) earlier but they could not be served. The NGO’s counsel sought more time to serve the notices to the defendants.