A Delhi court has issued fresh summons to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Wikimedia Foundation, and Internet Archives in a defamation suit filed by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader. The suit seeks to prevent the airing of the documentary series titled “India: The Modi Question.” Additional district judge Ruchika Singla of the Rohini court stated that since the defendants are foreign entities, the service of summons must be carried out according to the guidelines issued by the Delhi High Court. The court order directed the issuance of fresh summons to the defendants upon the filing of the prescribed fee within seven days. These summons will be served through the Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law & Justice, Government of India, in accordance with the rules.
The defendants, consisting of BBC, Wikimedia Foundation, and Internet Archives, are foreign entities, and the court deemed it necessary to follow the appropriate guidelines for the service of summons. The defamation suit was filed by a BJP functionary named Binay Kumar Singh, who sought a permanent injunction order to prevent the three organizations from publishing the banned BBC documentary series on the 2002 Gujarat riots, during which Prime Minister Narendra Modi served as the state’s chief minister. The court had previously reserved its order on the point of service of summons to the defendants as per the Hague Convention.
The court determined that the relevant countries involved in the suit are all parties to the Hague Convention, making it applicable in this case. The court further observed that the summons had not been properly served according to the rules formulated under the Hague Convention and by the Government of India. As a result, Justice Singla issued fresh summons to the defendants and scheduled the matter for further hearing on November 18. Previously, on May 3, the court had issued summons to BBC, Wikimedia Foundation, and Internet Archive based on allegations that the three defendants were working together to tarnish the image of the country and prominent organizations like RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) and VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad).
The plaintiff, Singh, has sought a direction from the court to order the defendants to offer an unconditional apology to him and the organizations for the defamatory content. Additionally, he has requested damages amounting to Rs. 10,00,000. In January 2023, the Government of India imposed a ban on the BBC documentary, which sparked protests within India and abroad. Critics of the government and advocates of free speech protested against the ban, while some members of the Indian diaspora supported the ban and protested against the BBC. The documentary’s ban triggered debates on the freedom of speech and expression in the country.