This Article is From Apr 13, 2023

BBC India Probed Again, This Time For Alleged Forex Violations: Sources

The BBC's foreign remittances are being scrutinized by the Enforcement Directorate, sources said today.

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India News Reported by , Edited by
New Delhi:

The BBC in India has been asked to provide financial details in a new probe linked to alleged foreign exchange violations. Britain's public broadcaster had faced a tax investigation earlier this year.

The BBC's foreign remittances are being scrutinised by the Enforcement Directorate, sources said today.

The Enforcement Directorate has registered a case against BBC India under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

The probe agency has asked the BBC to furnish its books of accounts and financial statements.

This comes months after the Income Tax department surveyed the BBC and sent its teams to the broadcaster's offices in Delhi and Mumbai over allegations of irregularities in taxes, diversion of profits and non-compliance with rules.

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During the survey, senior BBC staff had to stay in the office overnight to respond to questions.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the administrative body for the Income Tax department, had said the income and profits shown by various BBC group entities were "not commensurate" with the scale of their operations in India and tax had not been paid on certain remittances by its foreign entities.

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The tax searches came weeks after the British broadcaster aired a documentary that was critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership of Gujarat during the 2002 sectarian riots. The BBC's two-part series titled "India: The Modi Question", examined allegations that PM Modi, as Chief Minister of Gujarat, didn't do enough to stop the riots - allegations that were dismissed by the Supreme Court. The government used emergency powers to take down posts sharing the documentary in January.

Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, in an interview, said the timing of the BBC documentary is "not accidental" and denounced the narrative in the foreign media.

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