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SC Dismisses Plea Seeking Complete Ban On BBC In India Amid Documentary Row; 'No Merit'

The SC on Friday dismissed a PIL which sought a complete ban on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and BBC India from operating from Indian territory.

General News
 
| Written By
Astha Singh

SC dismisses plea seeking complete ban on BBC documentary (Image: Shutterstock/RepresentativeImage)


The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a PIL which sought a complete ban on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and BBC India from operating from Indian territory. This hearing came in wake of BBC's controversial documentary titled, ‘India: The Modi Question’ pertaining to the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The hearing was presided by a 2-judge bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and MM Sundresh who observed that the petition was completely misconceived and with no merit. The petition was filed by Vishnu Gupta, President of the right-wing organisation Hindu Sena. "Completely misconceived, how can this be argued also? You want us to put complete censorship. What is this? It has no merit. Thus, dismissed," the Court ordered.

Besides seeking a  ban on the documentary, another petition filed before the top court by Beerendra Kumar Singh, a farmer also sought an investigation into the BBC, alleging anti-India reporting and sought for complete ban on the operations of the company in Indian territory

BBC documentary row

It is pertinent to mention that on January 21, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting reportedly invoked its emergency powers under the IT Rules 2021 to direct the removal of the links from YouTube and Twitter, when the first part of the documentary, which deals with the Gujarat riots of 2002 which happened when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of the state was released. 

The government called the BBC documentary biased and lacking in objectivity. “The bias, lack of objectivity and continuing colonial mindset is blatantly visible in the documentary. If anything, this film or documentary is a reflection on the agency and individuals that are peddling this narrative again. It makes us wonder about the purpose of this exercise and the agenda behind it. Frankly, we don't wish to dignify such efforts,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a press conference.  

The release of the documentary has resulted in protests by Indians in many parts of the UK as well, especially in cities like Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, and Glasgow.

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