NGO withdraws Delhi HC plea seeking Rs 10,000 crore from BBC over Modi documentary

A Gujarat-based NGO has withdrawn its Delhi High Court plea seeking Rs 10,000 crore in damages from the BBC over its documentary “India: The Modi Question”. The court allowed the withdrawal with liberty to file a fresh suit for the same cause

New Delhi: NGO has withdrawn from the Delhi High Court its plea seeking Rs 10,000 crore in damages from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) over its documentary “India: The Modi Question”, alleging that it casts a slur on the country’s reputation and contains false and defamatory imputations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian judiciary.

Justice Tushar Rao Gedela permitted the petitioner’s counsel to withdraw the suit, saying, “Accordingly, the I.P.A. 1/2023 along with the suit is dismissed as withdrawn with liberty so sought, granted.”

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The lawyer for the Gujarat-based NGO, Justice On Trial, said he had instructions to withdraw the Indigent Person Application (IPA), along with the suit, with liberty to file a fresh suit for the same cause of action.

The court passed the order on September 3.

The NGO had filed an IPA, which enables an indigent person to file a lawsuit.

The high court had earlier issued notices to the BBC (UK) and BBC (India) on the application filed by the NGO.

The plea said BBC (UK) is the national broadcaster of the United Kingdom and has released the two-part news documentary, “India: The Modi Question”, while BBC (India) is its local operations office. It said the two episodes were broadcast in January 2023.

The petitioner sought damages of Rs 10,000 crore in favour of the NGO and against the defendants 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”.

The documentary relates to the 2002 Gujarat riots, when Modi was the state’s chief minister. The government had banned the documentary soon after it was released.

The plaintiff organisation, which says it is a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and also registered as a public trust under the provisions of the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950, filed the suit for damages.

It contended that the documentary contains content that casts a slur on the reputation of the country and also makes false and defamatory imputations and insinuations against the prime minister, the Indian judiciary and the Indian criminal justice system.

The plea claimed that the “disparaging and defamatory” statements of the defendant have caused grave and irreparable injury to the reputation of, and denuded the goodwill built by, the prime minister, the government of India, the government of Gujarat and also the people of India.

The Centre had earlier issued directions for blocking multiple YouTube videos and X posts sharing links to the BBC documentary, which was described by the Ministry of External Affairs as a “propaganda piece” that lacks objectivity and reflects a colonial mindset.