'Misconceived': Supreme Court junks plea to ban BBC in India over Modi documentary

The Indian Supreme Court on Friday dismissed as 'entirely misconceived' a petition by Hindu Sena chief Vishnu Gupta that sought to ban India ops of the British Broadcasting Corporation, or BBC, over its controversial two-part documentary on Narendra Modi.

Gupta had claimed the BBC had taken an 'anti-India' position in the documentary - which has made headlines in India for its criticism of the prime minister - and that the film is '(the) result of deep conspiracy against global rise of India and its Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi (which)... is not being digested by anti-India lobby, media particularly BBC'.

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and MM Sundresh refused to entertain the plea but said other matters - the government's ban on the documentary - were a different matter.

According to legal news website Live Law, senior advocate Pinky Anand, representing the petitioner, said (in response to Justice Sundresh calling the plea 'misconceived': "Kindly see the background when the documentary has happened. Today you have a position when you have an Indian as the Prime Minister of the UK. India is rising as an economic power."

To this Justice Khanna retorted: "How can this be argued? You want us to put complete censorship? What is this?"

The documentary - 'India: The Modi Question' - questions Modi's handling of the 2002 Gujarat riots; he was then the chief minister of Gujarat. The government had directed social media platforms like Twitter and YouTube to block links to the documentary, which the ministry of external affairs slammed as a 'propaganda piece' that reflected a colonial mindset.

The documentary has spurred agitations in India and abroad, with critics of the government and advocates of free speech protesting the government's ban, while others - including some members of the Indian diaspora - favour of the ban and protest against the BBC.