The Supreme Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a complete ban on the BBC and BBC India from operating from Indian territory in wake of airing the documentary titled, ‘India: The Modi Question’ relating to the 2002 Gujarat riots and called the petition “completely misconceived”.
“How can you even argue this. It is completely misconceived. How can you ask court to ban the BBC?” Justice Sanjiv Khanna said.
The plea said, “The documentary film by BBC relating to Gujarat violence 2002 implicating Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not only reflective of anti-Narendra Modi cold propaganda broadcast to tarnish his image alone but this is anti-Hinduism propaganda by BBC to destroy the social fabric of India.”
The British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) two-part series criticising PM Modi’s tenure as Gujarat Chief Minister during the 2002 Gujarat riots sparked outrage and was pulled from certain platforms. According to sources, the Centre issued instructions on January 21 to block multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts that shared links to the contentious BBC documentary.
