BBC summoned by Indian court in Modi film defamation case

The Delhi High Court has issued a summons to the BBC in a defamation case related to its documentary on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The film, which was banned in India, questioned Modi’s leadership during the 2002 Gujarat riots, in which over 1,000 people were killed, most of them Muslims. Activists claim that the death toll was more than twice that number. The summons comes months after Indian tax officials inspected the BBC’s offices in New Delhi and Mumbai in February following an angry response by the Indian government to the documentary. The defamation suit, filed by a non-profit based in Gujarat, claims that the documentary cast a slur on India’s reputation and that of its judiciary and the prime minister. Modi has denied accusations that he did not do enough to stop the riots and a Supreme Court-ordered investigation found no evidence to prosecute him.