Justice Rohinton Nariman goes to Gujarat, slams BBC documentary ban and IT raids

Former Supreme Court judge Justice Rohinton Nariman on Thursday slammed the recent ban by the Central government on the BBC Documentary titled, ‘India: The Modi Question’ relating to the 2002 Gujarat riots..He also berated the subsequent raids on the BBC office by the Income Tax Department, stating that the raids were "even more unfortunate" than the ban itself. ."I am referring directly to the two BBC documentaries that have, of late, arrested our attention. The first documentary speaks about our present Prime Minister as Chief Minister of the State and what was done or not done in the Godhra riot time. The second documentary speaks of our Prime Minister leading the nation today and playing "divisive politics" is how the BBC puts it and refers to the Citizenship Amendment Act, refers to cow vigilantes murdering people etc," he elaborated.The retired judge highlighted the futility of the ban, referring to the internet as "hydra-headed" and explaining that anything removed from one place would "pop up" elsewhere.."Now, in fact followed after banning these two documentaries- and I must tell you, banning something is almost certain to make more people see it than otherwise because you are banning something on the internet which is anyway hydra-headed. You may say banned under YouTube, banned under x or y but another hydra head will pop up and one of these young gentlemen will immediately give you the BBC documentary on some other website. It is a futile ban to start with.".But the unfortunate thing is the ban itself but what is even more unfortunate is the coercive action thereafter - in this case the income tax raids on BBC office, he added.The former judge said that use of State machineries like Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Department in a coercive manner is creating a chilling effect on free speech..Justice Nariman was delivering the inaugural Jitendra Desai Memorial Lecture, on the topic, "Freedom of Speech: Contemporary Challenges".The lecture was organised by the Navajivan Trust in Gujarat's Ahmedabad.In the context of free speech and BBC ban, Justice Nariman recalled how his friend and former Union Minister late Arun Jaitley had batted for freedom of speech and expression."My dear friend Arun Jaitley who is unfortunately no longer with us, if ever he stood for anything, he stood for freedom of speech because he suffered. He was in jail unlike most of these other gentlemen, for nineteen months during the emergency", the former Supreme Court Judge said.He also recalled that Jaitley was very proud of having appeared as a junior advocate to his father, Senior Advocate Fali S Nariman, in the Express Newspapers case. ."Pretty much what is being done today was done then.".He opined that today, India is at a cross-roads, as we have the major problem of having no opposition worth the name. Further, print and television media do not criticise government the way it used to."These are facts known to all of us. It may not be stated openly, but these are facts.".Justice Nariman also expressed concerns regarding frequent hate speeches against religious minorities.