SC on BBC documentary: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear next week the petitions filed challenging the ban on BBC’s documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to the information, senior advocate CU Singh and lawyer ML Sharma sought urgent listing of their separate PILs on the issue.
Taking note of the submissions, a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala listed the matter for hearing on February 6. "It will be listed on Monday (February 6)," the CJI said.
Lawyer Sharma, who filed the PIL in his individual capacity, mentioned the petition at the beginning of the proceedings and claimed that people were being detained. He filed the PIL against the Centre's decision to ban the BBC documentary, “India: The Modi Question”, alleging that the ban was "malafide, arbitrary and unconstitutional".
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PIL seeks to examine the BBC documentary
The PIL also urged the top court to call and examine the BBC documentary and sought action against people who were responsible and involved directly and indirectly with the 2002 Gujarat riots. Earlier on January 21, the Centre issued directions for blocking multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the controversial BBC documentary.
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Meanwhile, advocate Singh mentioned a separate plea on the issue filed by veteran journalist N Ram and activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan. He mentioned how the tweets by Ram and Bhushan were deleted allegedly by using emergency powers. He mentioned that students in Ajmer were rusticated for streaming the BBC documentary.
It should be noted here that UK-based media, BBC released a documentary- “India: The Modi Question". The documentary is allegedly based on the Gujarat riots and the role of then Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
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