BBC Driven By 'Purpose' Not 'Agenda': Chief Tim Davie To Staff In India After I-T Surveys

In an email shared by the network, BBC Director General Tim Davie praised company staff in India for their bravery, emphasising that nothing was more important than reporting impartially.

The BBC is not motivated by an "agenda," but by purpose, and will not be deterred from reporting impartially and without fear or favour, according to the leader of the UK-based media organisation days after the income tax department surveyed its operations in New Delhi and Mumbai.

Director General Tim Davie commended BBC personnel in India for their courage in an email published on Thursday by the network, emphasising that nothing was more important than reporting impartially. He went on to say that the BBC would assist personnel in India in doing their jobs successfully and safely.

"Nothing is more important than our ability to report without fear or favour," Davie said in the email, which was obtained by the BBC.

"Our duty to our audiences is to pursue the facts through impartial and independent journalism and to produce and distribute the very best creative content. We won't be put off from that task. I'd like to be clear: the BBC does not have an agenda – we are driven by purpose. And our first public purpose is to provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage with the world around them," he stated.

The income tax survey came just weeks after the London-based public broadcaster aired a divisive two-part documentary, 'India: The Modi Question,' about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The email from Davie came a week after I-T officers spent three days conducting a "survey" at the BBC premises. The BBC stated in an official statement after the conclusion of the searches that it will "continue to cooperate" with the authorities and hopes that problems are addressed as soon as possible.

In its statement following the inspection, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) claimed it had uncovered anomalies and that the income and earnings revealed by the organisation's units were "not commensurate with the scale of operations in India".

Earlier this week, the British government supported the BBC and its editorial independence in Parliament, saying: "We stand up for the BBC. We fund the BBC. We think the BBC World Service is vital." David Rutley, a UK Foreign Office minister, was responding to an urgent question raised by the Opposition parties in the House of Commons, some of whom branded the action a "deliberate act of intimidation following the release of an unflattering documentary about the country's leader" and sharply criticised the UK government for failing to make a statement on the issue sooner.

(With Inputs From PTI)