Last Friday, a Delhi court once again summoned the BBC, Internet Archive, and the Wikimedia Foundation in yet another challenge against the British broadcaster's controversial documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's involvement in the 2002 Gujarat riots. Justice Ruchika Singla of the Rohini District Courts directed fresh summons to be issued and served through the Indian government's Department of Legal Affairs, in an order reviewed by MediaNama. The government's decision to block access to the documentary earlier this year raised free speech and censorship concerns. Justice Singla previously summoned the parties in May. They later objected to the notice, arguing that as they were based in the United Kingdom and the United States, they should be summoned as foreign parties according to procedures laid out in Article 10 of the Hague Convention, to which both countries and India are parties. Referring to past Delhi High Court verdicts, Justice Singla agreed, observing that "it is clear that as per the rules formulated under the Hague Convention and by the Government of India, the summons/notices in foreign countries can be effected only through the Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India, which has admittedly not been done in the present case." Filed by Bhartiya Janata Party politician Binay Kumar Singh, the petition sought to restrain the documentary's publishing, and an "unconditional apology" for its allegedly defamatory findings on right-wing Hindu groups the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. Singh, who claims to actively volunteer at both organisations, argued that…
