ED files case against BBC India over alleged irregularities in foreign funding

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday filed a case against news channel BBC India under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) for alleged irregularities in foreign funding, as per reports.

The ED has also called for documents and records of statements made by some company executives under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), officials said. The investigation essentially deals with the company's alleged foreign direct investment (FDI) violations.

The case comes months after a three-day "survey" by the Income Tax department at the BBC India offices in Delhi and Mumbai in February this year. I-T operations began investigating issues related to international taxation and transfer pricing of BBC subsidiaries.

After the "exploration" operations ended after three days, revenue and profits reported by various BBC Group entities "do not match" the scale of their operations in India and taxes were not paid on some transfers by foreign entities, the Revenue said. The action against the British broadcaster comes less than a month after the BBC released a two-part documentary titled 'India: The Modi Question' about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which it alleged was involved in the 2002 riots.

The Indian government called it "propaganda designed to push a particular discredited narrative".