BBC Documentary: SC to hear pleas against blocking order, diaspora holds protest in California

The Supreme Court on Monday accepted to hear a plea against the blocking orders pertaining to the controversial BBC documentary, ‘India: The Modi Question.’

Lawyer M L Sharma and senior advocate C U Singh filed separate PILs regarding the issue, which was brought to the notice of a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala, with the CJI scheduling a hearing on February 6 regarding the issue.

The PIL filed by Lawyer M L Sharma calls on the Supreme Court to examine both parts of the documentary to identify and take actions against individuals involved with the 2002 Gujrat riots, regarding the blocking order as “malafide, arbitrary and unconstitutional.”

The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry on January 21 instructed social media platforms Twitter and YouTube to block links to the BBC documentary regarding the 2002 Gujrat riots.

According to media reports, the controversial documentary draws criticism towards the leadership of PM Modi, who was the Chef Minister of Gujrat at the time of the riots in 2002.

Speaking of the PILs filed in the apex court regarding the documentary, Minister of Law and Justice, Kiren Rijiju, stated on Twitter, “This is how they waste the precious time of Hon’ble Supreme Court where thousands of common citizens are waiting and seeking dates for Justice.”

This is how they waste the precious time of Hon'ble Supreme Court where thousands of common citizens are waiting and seeking dates for Justice. https://t.co/5kouG8Px2K

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) January 30, 2023

At the other end of the globe, Fremont in the San Francisco Bay area of California saw certain members of the Indian diaspora protesting the documentary on Saturday.

About 50 individuals marched in protest in California, according to media reports. The protesters could be seen carrying banners with slogans like  “BBC IS A BOGUS Broadcasting Corporation”, “Indian Diaspora rejects BBC’s Sinister and Biased Documentary against Prime Minister Narendra Modi”, and “BBC is a fake news peddler.”