Delhi HC issues notice to BBC over documentary

The Delhi high court on Monday issued a notice to the British Broadcasting Corporation on a suit filed by a Gujarat-based NGO that alleged that the documentary India: The Modi Question by the broadcaster defames Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian judiciary.

The NGO, Justice on Trial, has sought damages of ₹10,000 crore on account of the “loss of reputation and goodwill caused to the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, the Government of India, the Government of the State of Gujarat as it was during the period of the Gujarat Riots, and also the people of India”.

“Issue notice to the respondents through all permissible modes,” justice Sachin Datta said in his order, and posted the matter for September 25. The notice has also been issued to BBC (India).

The two-part documentary relates to the 2002 Gujarat riots, when Modi was the chief minister of the state. The first part of the documentary was released on January 18, 2023 and second part on January 24, 2023 on the BBC’s website https://bbc.co.uk and telecast on its UK based TV channel “BBC Two”.

Appearing for the NGO, senior advocate Harish Salve said that the country’s system, the Constitutional network, including the judicial system, were defamed through the documentary.

“…. the defamatory documentary paints a picture of India as a country which is under a bigoted system in which the judiciary presides over and perpetuates such bigotry. Clearly, such allegations and innuendos are facially defamatory of India and its systems,” the plea read.

Asserting that the governmental and judicial response to the 2002 riots was to ensure that the rule of law is restored in the state, and all people involved, regardless of their status or position, bear the consequences, the suit has said that the “defamatory documentary” does not attempt to present facts in an objective manner.

“Rather, the intent and purpose of the documentary appears to be only to revive and repackage allegations that have not withstood judicial scrutiny and present outright allegations of motivated persons as irrefutable fact. The false and scurrilous allegations that are aired in the defamatory documentary do not even have a fig leaf of journalistic neutrality and reporting of facts, but appear to be only with a view to cast a slur upon the reputation of the Indian State and its institutions, apart from the reputation of the Gujarat administration including Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” the suit said.

While the UK’s national broadcaster has maintained that the film “was rigorously researched according to highest editorial standards”, the government dismissed the documentary as “propaganda” and a reflection of the “colonial mindset”.

In January, the government issued directions to video-sharing service YouTube to take down the documentary, and to Twitter to removed posts related to it.

In February, the Supreme Court dismissed as “completely misconceived” a public interest litigation demanding a ban on BBC in India amid the controversy over the documentary.