PM Modi documentary: Gujarat NGO withdraws defamation case in Delhi High Court against BBC

Gujarat-based non-profit Justice on Trial has withdrawn its ₹10,000 crore defamation case against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for a documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Justice on Trial had argued that the BBC's two-part documentary titled India: The Modi Question cast a slur on India's reputation, its judiciary as well as the Prime Minister. 

Advocate Siddharth Sharma appeared for the NGO before Justice Tushar Rao Gedela on September 3 and said he had instructions to withdraw the case. He said that a fresh suit will be filed with the same cause of action.

The Court allowed the request and said the case stood "dismissed as withdrawn".

The NGO's decision to withdraw the case comes after repeated questions from the Court about its maintainability. The Court had also flagged the fact that even though the case was filed in 2023, repeated adjournments were sought after that.

On April 15, 2026, the Court imposed a fine of ₹20,000 on the NGO for seeking adjournment.

The case was filed in 2023. The High Court had issued notice on the Indigent Person Application (IPA) filed by the plaintiff in the case and sought the BBC's response.

Under Order 33 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), an indigent person who is unable to pay court fees can file a suit or appeal without upfront payment.

Since court fees in the Delhi High Court are based on the monetary value of the subject matter or claim involved in the lawsuit, Justice for Trial would have had to pay crores of rupees as court fee before its case could proceed. Therefore, it filed the IPA with its suit.

The Court had issued notice on the IPA and not the suit.

[Read Order]