A hearing was held in the Supreme Court on Monday regarding the central government's ban on BBC's documentary series 'India: The Modi Question'.
The bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said – this matter needs to be considered. This cannot be dealt with in 10 minutes.
The bench directed the central government to comply with its February 2023 order to produce the original record of the judgment.
The bench's directive came on the pleas of senior journalist N Ram, TMC MP Mahua Moitra, advocate Prashant Bhushan-ML Sharma. All have challenged the central government's decision to ban documentaries.
Along with this, the bench allowed the petitioners to file counter affidavits within two weeks. The final hearing of the case is scheduled for January 2025.
The BBC documentary series 'India: The Modi Question' is based on the 2002 Gujarat riots. It was released in January 2023, but the central government banned its screening.
The BBC has been accused of trying to tarnish the image of PM Narendra Modi. Narendra Modi was CM of Gujarat at the time of Gujarat riots.
This screen shot is from a BBC documentary. In its first episode, several interviews of Narendra Modi during his tenure as CM of Gujarat were shown.
Courtroom Live…
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta: The government has not filed its reply and two more weeks are needed.
Counsel for the petitioners: Objecting to Mehta's plea, he said- the government knows that it has to file a reply, but it has not done so yet. This was an administrative decision and the court could proceed without filing a reply by the Centre.
Justice Khanna: The court needs to see the Centre's response in this matter. On February 3, 2023, the Supreme Court directed the central government to produce the original records related to its decision and issued a notice on the batch of petitions.
Advocate for Applicants: The government invoked emergency powers under the IT (Mediation Guidelines and Digital Media Code of Ethics) Rules 2021 to stop the documentary. The ban on the documentary 'India: The Modi Question' is malicious, arbitrary and unconstitutional.
Petitioners made Twitter (X)-Google a party The petitioners sought directions to Twitter Communications India Pvt Ltd (now X) and Google LLC to restore their social media posts.
He said- The executive's power to issue directions to prevent public access under Article 69A is limited to any serious offense affecting the sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states. or limited to the prevention of public order provocation.
The content of the BBC documentary is protected under Article 19(1)(a) (freedom of speech and expression) of the Constitution and the content of the series does not fall under any of the restrictions contained in Article 19(2), the petitioners said.
The petition challenged the ban of the Secretary, Ministry of IT The petition challenges the ban imposed by the Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (Ministry of IT). Under Rule 16 of the IT Rules, instructions were issued to Twitter India to block 50 tweets containing a link to a YouTube video of a BBC documentary. As a result, URL links shared by Prashant Bhushan's tweet and TMC MP Mahua Moitra were removed.
The petition stated that the Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued the instructions under his authority as an authorized officer under Rule 13(2) of the IT Rules, 2021. The directions are prima facie illegal as they are in direct violation of the interim order passed by the Bombay High Court.
The court order said that the first episode of the documentary was telecast on January 17 while the second episode was telecast on January 24. On January 21, 2023, the government issued instructions to block several YouTube videos and Twitter (now X) posts sharing links to the controversial documentary.
The first episode was telecast on 17 January, the government removed it the next day Indeed, BBC released the first episode of 'The Modi Question' documentary on YouTube on 17 January 2023. The second episode was scheduled to release on January 24. Even before this, the central government had removed the first episode from YouTube.
The description of the first episode states that the documentary explores the tension between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Muslim minority. Examines claims about Narendra Modi's role in the 2002 riots in Gujarat.
The Indian government termed this documentary as a bad propaganda against Prime Minister Modi and the country. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that we do not know what the agenda is behind this documentary, but it is not unbiased. This is propaganda against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The SIT was constituted by the Supreme Court regarding the 2002 riots in Gujarat. The committee did not find Narendra Modi's involvement in the riots. The SIT had said that no evidence was found against Modi. In June 2022, the Supreme Court upheld the clean chit given to Modi by the SIT.
The UK MP said that the documentary is not impartial UK MP Lord Rami Ranger tweeted about the BBC documentary on 18 January (now posted x).
He told BBC – You have hurt the sentiments of more than 100 crore people of India. The sentiments of the democratically elected Prime Minister, the Indian Police and the Indian Judiciary have been hurt. We condemn the Gujarat riots, but also criticize your biased reporting.
Documentary Controversy 24 January 2023: Stones thrown at students watching documentary in JNU
On January 24, there was chaos throughout the night in JNU. The student union said that they are not screening the documentary, but are watching it on mobile. There is no ban on viewing it, so why was the electricity and internet cut off?
There was an uproar over the screening of this documentary on 24 January 2023 at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). When the university received news that a documentary was being screened in the student union office, the electricity and internet were switched off.
Even after this the students did not agree and shared the QR code to download the documentary on mobile. The controversy escalated to such an extent that students watching the documentary were pelted with stones late at night. It is not known who threw the stones. The assailants took advantage of the darkness and escaped.
January 25: 7 students detained at Jamia University
Police detained 7 students for screening of documentary in Jamia University.
Police detained 7 students for screening a controversial documentary in Jamia. He was accused of trying to spoil the atmosphere. SFI postponed the screening until the release of the students. He was detained based on the complaint of the chief proctor of the university.
Jamia Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtar said that the student body SFI had tried to spoil the atmosphere of the university campus by screening the controversial documentary. We will not allow any such work.
January 25: Clashes erupt at Puducherry University over the screening of a BBC documentary
There was a clash between students over the screening of a BBC documentary at Puducherry University.
Puducherry A BBC documentary on PM Modi was screened at the university on Wednesday (January 25). After this there was a clash between the two organizations of students. The university administration turned off electricity and WiFi as a precautionary measure, after which a group of students watched the documentary on phones and laptops.
January 25: Uproar over documentary at Punjab University
The Congress student body NSUI organized a screening of the documentary at Punjab University in Chandigarh.
A ruckus broke out in the student center of Punjab University (PU) on January 25 over the screening of a controversial documentary. NSUI played this documentary. Many students flocked to see him. Meanwhile, the university authorities got wind of this and the documentary being played on the projector was immediately stopped. Almost half of the documentaries have already been played before this.
26 January: Kerala Congress shows documentary on Republic Day The Kerala Congress screened a controversial BBC documentary on the occasion of Republic Day. The screening was organized by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) at Shankumugham Beach in Thiruvananthapuram. The party said the documentary could be shown to as many people as possible, so it was screened on the beach.
January 26: Clash between SFI and ABVP at Hyderabad University On January 26, a controversy broke out between the Students Federation of India (SFI) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) at Hyderabad University over the documentary. SFI screened the controversial documentary to over 400 students. In response, RSS student wing and ABVP activists screened the documentary 'The Kashmir Files' on the university campus.
The picture was shared by SFI on social media, showing students from Hyderabad watching a BBC documentary.
ABVP activists accused the university administration of allowing the BBC documentary to be screened on campus. In protest against this, activists staged demonstrations at the main gate of the university. He asked how the BBC documentary was allowed to be shown on campus when the government banned it.
Earlier on January 21 also, a group of students organized a screening of the documentary on the Hyderabad University campus. The students neither informed nor took permission from the university administration for this. The university authorities took action after the matter came to light.
January 27: Riots in Delhi University
The Progressive Students Forum released this poster to inform about the documentary screening.
On January 27, Delhi University (DU) students and police clashed over the screening of a documentary. The students said they want to watch the documentary, although the police are not allowing them to watch it. At the same time, the police said that the documentary has been banned, so its screening cannot be allowed.
The police said that Section 144 is applicable at Delhi University's Arts Faculty. Crowds cannot be allowed to gather here. Some students were detained after the commotion.
January 29: Riots at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
The Progressive Students' Forum of TISS announced the screening of the documentary on Saturday at 7 pm. Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha opposed it.
On January 29, there was an uproar over the screening of the documentary at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai. Despite the institution's ban, more than 200 students watched the documentary on phones and laptops.
The Progressive Students' Forum of TISS announced the screening of the documentary at 7 pm. Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha opposed it.
After this, the police intervened in the matter and said that the documentary would not be screened at TISS. After this the students watched the documentary on 9 laptops and phones.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
