BBC in Huge trouble! Delhi High Court issues summons in defamation case filed over its propaganda documentary on PM Modi

Justice on Trial , a Gujrat based NGO comprising of eminent Judges, ex-IPS Officers, Ex DGP Police, Doctors as well as renowned members of society filed a defamation suit in Delhi High Court.


Besides the BBC (UK), Justice Sachin Datta also issued notice to the BBC (India) seeking its response to the suit filed by the Gujarat-based NGO.

The high court said, "Issue notice to the respondents through all permissible modes" and listed it for further hearing on September 15. 

Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the NGO, Justice on Trial said the suit for defamation against the BBC is in relation to the documentary which has "defamed" India and the whole system including the judiciary.

A single judge bench of Justice Sachin Datta, while issuing summons to the BBC and another respondent, said, "It is contended that the said documentary makes defamatory imputation and caste slur on the reputation of the Country and Judiciary and against the Prime Minister of India. Issue notice to the respondents through all permissible modes".

Relations between India and Britain have went downhill after the documentary and a "breach of security" incident at the Indian High Commission in March, when Indian High commission in London, UK was attacked by a group of Khalistani terrorist supporters at a time when they are struggling to make progress in free trade talks.

India reacted sternly to the documentary "India: the Modi question" that aired in January, calling it a biased "propaganda piece" and blocked sharing of any clips from it on social media.

Income Tax officials raided offices of the BBC in Delhi and Mumbai in February and opened an investigation into the broadcaster in April for alleged violations of foreign exchange rules.

During a visit in March, British Foreign Minister James Cleverly raised the issue of tax searches at the BBC's offices with his Indian counterpart.

The Income tax authority had earlier said that it found evidence of undisclosed income in records of an "international media company" without naming the BBC.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "We think that this is a propaganda piece, designed to push a particular discredited narrative. The bias, lack of objectivity, and continuing colonial mindset are blatantly visible.”

Bagchi had said that the documentary is a reflection on the agency and individuals who are peddling this narrative. "It makes us wonder about the purpose of this exercise and the agenda behind it. Frankly, we don't wish to dignify such efforts," he said.

Senior Adviser, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Kanchan Gupta said, that the ministry issued directions to Twitter and YouTube to block tweets and video clips of the documentary. Twitter was also asked to take down 50 tweets with links to these YouTube videos. He said that both Twitter and YouTube complied with the directions. 
He also said that several ministries including Home Affairs, Information & Broadcasting, and External Affairs examined the documentary and found it to be “undermining the sovereignty and integrity of India, and having the potential to adversely impact India's friendly relations with foreign countries as also public order within the country”.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that he does not agree with the characterisation of PM Modi in the documentary. “The UK government's position on this has been clear and long-standing and hasn't changed, of course, we don't tolerate persecution where it appears anywhere but I am not sure I agree at all with the characterisation that the honourable gentleman has put forward to,” he said at the UK parliament. 

Earlier this month, a Delhi court had issued summons to the BBC, the Wikimedia Foundation, and the Internet Archive after BJP leader Binay Kumar Singh filed a defamation suit, seeking a permanent restraint order against the organisations from broadcasting the BBC documentary.

“The defendant is directed to file his written statement within 30 days from the date of service of the summons. Endorsement be made on the summons accordingly,” the order, passed by Additional District Judge of the Rohini court, Ruchika Singla, had said on May 4.

The suit also seeks an unconditional apology and damages worth Rs 10 lakh. The suit said the documentary has “generated an atmosphere of terror and fear among members of various groups, and possesses the potential to trigger violence and jeopardise public order across the nation…”.

In its response, the British Broadcasting Corporation said that “the court did not have jurisdiction to deal with the defamation case.”

On April 27, in a separate case, the Delhi High Court had set aside the order issued by Delhi University which had debarred a PhD scholar for a year for his alleged involvement in the disturbance of law and order during a bid to screen the BBC documentary on campus.

A single-judge bench of Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav had said DU’s administrative authority had not offered PhD scholar and NSUI national secretary Lokesh Chugh an opportunity to be heard and that there was no consideration of Chugh’s submissions or explanation in the debarment order.

Chugh is pursuing his PhD from DU’s Department of Anthropology.

Justice On Trial is a Trust duly registered under the Bombay Public Trusts Act,1950 having its registered office at Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It is a non-government, non-political institution run by citizens who have decades of experience in working in diverse fields of human activity. The organization describes its mission as follows:

Members of JOT are deeply concerned about the problems faced by various sections of the society in different parts of the country and are always ready to extend a helping hand to the affected people by enquiring into and finding out the root causes of the problem and providing and suggesting possible solutions as also by spreading information about the correct factual situation and by espousing the cause of the affected people before various government and non-government organizations. JOT aims at exposing and eliminating all kinds of injustices in the society at all levels and for this purpose institutes Enquiries and Fact-finding Committees from time to time focussing on specific problems.