SC issues notice to Centre over plea against censoring BBC documentary on PM Modi

The Supreme Court refused to stay the Centre's prohibition order on British Broadcasting Company's (BBC) documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

New Delhi, Feb 03: The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Centre on plea seeking direction to restrain the Central government from censoring the BBC documentary relating to the 2002 Gujarat Riots.

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and MM Sundresh gave three weeks' time for the Centre to file its response and placed the matter for hearing in April. "We are issuing notices. Counter affidavit be filed within three weeks. Rejoinder within two weeks after that. The respondents will also produce original records before this court on the next date of hearing," the bench said.

The court was dealing with two petitions - one filed jointly by TMC MP Mahua Moitra, journalist N Ram and advocate Prashant Bhushan and the second by advocate ML Sharma.

Senior advocate CU Singh, appearing for Ram and the others, submitted that the government has invoked the emergency powers under the Information Technology (IT) Rules to block the documentary. He said he was seeking a direction to the Centre to place on record all the original records, as reported by news agency PTI.

The Supreme Court said it is also a fact that people have been accessing the documentary. It had earlier agreed to hear the plea taking note of the submissions of lawyers Sharma and Singh seeking urgent listing of the petitions against the government's ban on the two-episode BBC series using its emergency powers.

The petition, which termed the government's decision to block the series as "manifestly arbitrary" and "unconstitutional" sought direction to quash all orders which directly and indirectly block online access to BBC's documentary "India: The Modi Question". In addition to it, the petitioners want their tweets sharing the links of the documentary, which were taken down by Twitter following Centre's orders, restored.

The right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed to citizens by Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution also includes the "right to receive and disseminate information", the plea stated.

Even if the contents of the documentary and its viewership/discussion thereupon are unpalatable to the powers that be, it is no ground to curtail the freedom of speech and expression of the petitioners, the plea added.

As per the sources, on January 21, the Centre issued directions for blocking multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the controversial BBC documentary.

The BBC, which has all along attempted to isolate Hindus by selectively reporting crimes against Hindus, came up with a series that discusses PM Modi's role in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

On the other hand, the Ministry of External Affairs has lashed out at the series calling it a "propaganda piece." "Do note that this has not been screened in India...We think that this is a propaganda piece, designed to push a particular discredited narrative. The bias, lack of objectivity and continuing colonial mindset is blatantly visible," ANI quoted External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi as saying. "If anything, this film or documentary is a reflection on the agency & individuals that are peddling this narrative again. It makes us wonder about the purpose of this exercise &the agenda behind it. Frankly, we don't wish to dignify such efforts," he added.