Will Continue To Report Without Fear Or Favour, Says BBC As Tax Survey Ends After Nearly 60 Hours

After spending three days at the office in central Delhi's Kasturba Gandhi Marg, approximately ten employees of Britain's largest public broadcaster returned home.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police stand guard outside the office building where Indian tax authorities raided BBC's office in New Delhi

Source : File Photo/AFP

After the three-day Income Tax survey on BBC India offices in Delhi and Mumbai ended on Thursday night, the organisation said it stands with it is cooperating with the probe agency and will "continue to report without fear or favour." After spending three days at the office in central Delhi's Kasturba Gandhi Marg, approximately ten employees of Britain's largest public broadcaster returned home.

#WATCH | Delhi: Income Tax officials come out of the BBC office in Delhi's KG Marg as the Income Tax department survey on the BBC offices in Mumbai and Delhi concludes after almost 60 hours. pic.twitter.com/hQ2zjPvQGa

— ANI (@ANI) February 16, 2023

"The BBC is a trusted, independent media organisation and we stand by our colleagues and journalists who will continue to report without fear or favour," the BBC said.

It added, "The Income Tax Authorities have left our offices in Delhi and Mumbai. We will continue to cooperate with the authorities and hope matters are resolved as possible."

"We are supporting staff -- some of whom have faced lengthy questioning or been required to stay overnight -- and their welfare is our priority. Our output is back to normal and we remain committed to serving our audiences in India and beyond," it said on social media.

According to PTI, sources said late on Thursday that the operation that began at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) offices in Delhi and Mumbai around 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday will be completed in Delhi by tonight.   

As part of the survey action that lasted over three days, officials told PTI, tax authorities have made an inventory of the available stock, recorded the statements of some staff members, and impounded some documents.

They stated that the purpose of the survey was to investigate issues pertaining to transfer pricing of BBC subsidiary companies and international taxation.

It is understood that the I-T teams copied data from electronic devices in order to obtain answers regarding the news company's financial transactions, organisational structure, and other details.

The I-T department's action against the public broadcaster with its headquarters in London has been criticized by opposition parties as a "political vendetta."

On Tuesday, the ruling BJP and the opposition both questioned the timing of the action, which came just weeks after the BBC aired a two-part documentary titled "India: The Modi Question" concerns Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the riots that occurred in Gujarat in 2002.

The BBC has stated that it is cooperating with the authorities, despite the fact that the Income Tax department has not issued an official statement regarding the incident.

According to a BBC employee in Delhi, the company is cooperating with the authorities and is broadcasting its usual news.

In the wake of the contentious documentary, a petition calling for an outright ban on the BBC in India was rejected by the Supreme Court last week. The court called the petition "entirely misconceived" and "absolutely meritless."

In April, a new set of petitions will be heard challenging the government's decision to block access to the documentary on social media platforms.  

The government had directed the blocking of multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts containing links to the documentary on January 21.