Delhi High Court summons BBC on defamation case for controversial documentry

Delhi High Court today issued summons to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) based on a defamation suit moved by a Gujarat based Non-Government Organisation (NGO) claiming that a two-part documentary by the UK broadcaster cast a slur on the reputation of India and its judiciary as well as that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The bench of Justice Sachin Dutta on Monday issued the summons to defendants including BBC and listed for further consideration in September month Senior Advocate Harish Salve appeared for the plaintiff organisation and submitted that the documentary has defamed India and the judiciary also.
Recently Delhi’s Rohini court had also issued summons to the BBC, the Wikimedia Foundation and Internet Archive on a plea seeking a direction restraining the defendants from publishing the BBC documentary based on PM Modi.
The petitioner Binay Kumar Singh has petitioned the Rohini district court to pass an order restraining the Defendants restraining them including their agents, etc. to cease the publishing of the two-volume documentary series ‘India: The Modi Question’ or any other defamatory material pertaining to the Plaintiff, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and Vishwa HinduParishad (VHP) on the platforms of Wikimedia and Internet Archive or any other online or offline platforms.
He has also sought to pass a direction to the defendants ordering them to tender an unconditional apology to the Plaintiff and to RSS and VHP for the libellous and defamatory content published in the two-volume documentary series.
It is said that in the month of January 2023, BBC aired the two-volume documentary series ‘India: The Modi Question’.
It is submitted that through the said documentary, BBC claims that there are rising tensions between India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the country’s Muslim minority; there is an alarming rise of hate crimes and extreme politics in India, particularly targeting the Muslim community.