On Thursday, the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) argued that it is a foreign entity and that the Delhi court did not have the jurisdiction to deal with the defamation case filed against it. The Court was hearing the defamation suit filed by BJP leader Binay Kumar Singh against the BBC, Wikimedia Foundation and Internet Archive for carrying illegal links to banned BBC documentary.
The BBC and Wikipedia’s legal representatives also claimed that they were foreign organisations that were not served properly and that they were appearing in protest.
Binay Kumar Singh, the complainant’s attorney, stated that he is prepared to give the BBC a tangible copy of the lawsuit in court, but the broadcaster’s attorney objected and stated that doing so would violate its rights under the Hague Convention.
“Counsel for defendant no. 1 (BBC) submits that she has not received the copies as the service has not been effected properly upon the defendant no. 1. Ld. Counsel for the plaintiff is ready to supply the copy in the court today, which is not accepted by Ld. Counsel for the defendant no. 1 stating that the same shall be prejudicial to her rights in view of the Hague Convention. She needs time to argue on this point,” Additional District Judge (ADJ) Ruchika Singla recorded in the order.
India acceded to The Hague Convention on 23rd November, 2006 and the Convention was entered into force in India on 1st August, 2007.
Internet Archive, a US-based digital library, meanwhile said that it has deleted the links to the documentary and the documentary itself from its platform. The Court then adjourned the matter and scheduled the next hearing for May 26.
‘BBC is now sort of threatening the Court..’ opines Binay Kumar Singh to OpIndia
Complainant Binay Kumar Singh confirmed the development to OpIndia and said, “Internet Archive stated that it has removed the documentary- India: The Modi Question, from its platform. However, caught and exposed red-handed for circulating a banned documentary and admitting that same has been removed after the case was filed, BBC is now sort of threatening the Court that it has no locus to initiate legal proceedings for the crime committed. This is like adding insult to injury. The documentary in question has defamed PM Modi, BJP, RSS and the VHP.”
It was reported earlier, that the illegal links to the banned documentary on PM Modi named ‘India: The Modi Question’ aired by BBC in January this year were removed by Internet Archive after a defamation suit was filed by Jharkhand BJP leader Binay Kumar Singh. However, Wikipedia continued to carry the defunct link connecting to the Internet Archive and the BBC link also existed. On checking today (May 12), after the first hearing on the case in the Court, OpIndia discovered that Wikipedia has removed the defunct links connecting to the Internet Archive but it still carries the links to the documentary on the BBC website.
About the suit filed by Binay Kumar Singh
The defamation suit was filed by BJP leader Binay Kumar Singh on May 3 against BBC, Wikimedia Foundation and Internet Archive over the BBC’s controversial documentary on PM Modi. The court had then issued summons to BBC, Wikimedia Foundation and Internet Archive. The leader in the complaint mentioned that the defendants illegally made available the links to the banned BBC documentary on PM Modi. He also said that the documentary had defamed the BJP, RSS and the VHP.
Singh said in the suit that he personally had to suffer defamation due to the defamation caused to the organisations, the RSS, VHP and BJP as he is associated to these organizations.
According to the suit, Singh on April 13 this year was called by one of his friends who criticized him and expressed dismay over his association with the RSS. Singh said that his friend called him after watching the controversial documentary which has directly held RSS and VHP responsible for the widespread and systematic rape of Muslim women, purging of Muslims from Hindu areas and mass murder of thousands of Muslims in Gujarat.
Singh then researched to discover that the two parts of the already-banned documentary were still available on Wikipedia and the Internet Archive. “The allegations made against the RSS and VHP are motivated by a malicious intent to defame the organizations and its millions of members/ volunteers. Such unfounded allegations are not only baseless but also have the potential to damage the reputation and image of the RSS, VHP and its millions of members/volunteers, who have committed themselves to uphold the cultural, social and national values of India,” the suit read.
The controversial documentary was banned by the government on January 24 this year. However, the jurisdiction of this ban is limited in India, and the two-part documentary is legally available outside India.
The valuation of the ongoing suit which has been filed through Advocate Mukesh Sharma is Rs 10 lakh. On May 11, BBC was represented by Advocates Sonam Gupta and Anurag Tandon. Advocate Manmeet Singh appeared for Wikimedia, while Advocate Radhika Roy represented the Internet Archive. The hearing is next scheduled to take place on May 26.
