The BBC is facing legal action in India after it was accused of defaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a documentary series investigating his role in religious riots in the state of Gujarat in 2002, adding to the UK public service broadcaster’s growing list of legal troubles in the country.
The lawsuit was filed in New Delhi’s high court by Justice on Trial, a Gujarat-based trust, which according to its website is devoted to defending the reputation of the judiciary in Gujarat and the wider country.
The complaint alleged that the BBC series “casts a slur on the reputation of the country and also makes false and defamatory imputations and insinuations against the prime minister of India, the Indian Judiciary and the Indian criminal justice system”, according to a court order issued by judge Sachin Datta.