Delhi court summons BBC, Wikimedia Foundation and Internet Archive over ‘defamation’

Hearing a defamation case by a BJP leader, a Delhi court on Wednesday issued summons to the BBC over the banned documentary India: The Modi Question.

Binay Kumar Singh, a leader from the BJP’s Jharkhand unit with links to the RSS and VHP, has alleged that the BBC has defamed the organisations he is part of.

Additional District Judge Ruchika Singla also issued summons to Wikimedia Foundation and the US-based Internet Archive, Bar and Bench reported.

The court will hear the matter on May 11.

Singh’s lawyer told the court that the documentary has been banned but a Wikipedia page has links to watch it and that it is still available on Internet Archive.

This comes nearly three months after the Supreme Court dismissed a petition by Hindu Sena president Vishnu Gupta seeking a ban on the BBC in India and a probe into its “anti-India and anti-Indian government” content.

The Supreme Court had in February issued a notice to the Narendra Modi government over petitions challenging the move to block the controversial BBC documentary. It had sought original records pertaining to the government decision.