NEW DELHI – India’s Delhi High Court issued a summons to British broadcaster BBC on Monday in a defamation case over its documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It aimed to question his leadership during the 2002 Gujarat riots. India-Britain ties have suffered after the documentary. New Delhi reacted angrily to the documentary, India: The Modi Question, that aired in January, calling it a biased “propaganda piece”, and blocked sharing of any clips from it on social media.Tax officials inspected offices of the BBC in Delhi and Mumbai in February.
The financial crime agency opened an investigation into the broadcaster in April for violating the rules of foreign exchange. During a visit in March, British Foreign Minister James Cleverly raised the issue of tax searches at the BBC’s offices with his Indian counterpart. The BBC said it was aware of the court case and declined to make a comment on it. Mr Modi has denied the accusations put on him questioning his leadership. A petition willing to start a fresh investigation was dismissed by the Supreme Court last year.